A    HISTORY 


Southern  Missouri  and 
Northern  ArKansas 


Being'   an   Account   of  the    Early   Settlements, 

the   Civil   War,  the    Ku-Klux,  and 

Times   of  Peace. 


By  William  MonKs 

West  Plains,'  Mo. 


West  Plains  Journal  Co. 

West  Plains,  Mo. 

19O7 


\  X*\ 


Copyright 

t>y 

William  MonKs 


Introduction. 

Now  the  author  was  born  in  the  state  of  Alabama,  in 
Jackson  county,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
near  Hunts ville.  He  was  the  son  of  James  Monks  and 
Nancy  Monks.  The  father  of  James  Monks  came  over 
from  Ireland  during  the  Revolutionary  War  and  served  in 
that  war  until  the  independence  of  the  United  States  was 
acknowledged.  Afterwards  he  married  a  lady  of  English 
descent  and  settled  down  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina. 
His  father  died  when  he  was  but  an  infant.  His  mother 
removed  to  the  state  of  Tennessee,  being  left  with  five  chil 
dren,  James  being  the  youngest.  Growing  up  to  manhood 
in  that  state,  he  removed  to  the  north  part  of  the  state  of 
Alabama  and  there  married  Nancy  Graham,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  Jesse  Graham.  They  were  originally  from  the 
state  of  Virginia. 

James  Monks  enlisted  in  the  United  States  Army  and 
served  in  the  Indian  war  that  was  known  as  the  Seminole 
war,  in  the  state  of  Florida.  After  his  term  of  service  had 
expired  he  returned  home  and  sold  his  farm  and  had  a  flat- 
boat  built  and  placed  in  the  Tennessee  River  near  Gunters 
Landing,  with  the  intention  of  moving  to  the  state  of  Flor 
ida.  Taking  his  brother-in-law,  a  Mr.  Phillips,  on  the 
boat  with  him,  they  went  down  the  river  by  Decatur,  were 
piloted  through  the  Mussell  Shoals,  and  at  the  foot  of  the 
shoals  at  what  is  known  as  Tuscumbia,  the  writer  remem 
bers  seeing  a  part  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  that  were  being 
removed  from  the  state  of  Alabama  to  their  present  location. 

384935 


The  writer  can  remember  seeing  the  Cherokee  Indians  be 
fore  they  were  removed  from  the  state  of  Alabama. 

On  reaching  Southern  Illinois, eight  miles  from  Padu- 
cah,  my  father  landed  his  boat  and  looked  over  the  country 
and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  that  country  was  good 
enough,  and  located  in  what  was  then  Pope  County.  After 
wards  they  cropped  a  piece  off  of  Pope  and  a  piece  off  of 
Johnson,  and  created  anew  county  and  named  it  Massack, 
after  the  old  government  fort,  and  located  the  count}7  seat, 
named  Metropolis.  My  father  resided  nine  years  in  that 
state,  then  sold  out  and  started  to  move  to  the  state  of 
Texas.  On  arriving  in  Fulton  county,  Arkansas,  he  con 
cluded  to  locate  in  that  county. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  in  the  latter  part  of  June  or  July, 
1844,  the  writer  was  employed  to  carry  the  United  States 
mail  from  Salem,  the  county  seat  of  Fulton  County,  to 
Rockbridge,  then  the  county  seat  of  Ozark  county,  Mis 
souri.  My  father  and  mother  taught  me  to  be  loyal  to  my 
government  from  my  earliest  remembrance,  and  I  don't 
think  that  two  persons  more  honest  than  they  ever  lived. 
They  taught  me  from  my  earliest  recollection  to  be  honest 
and  upright,  and  I  have  tried,  and  believe  I  have  lived  up 
to  their  teaching  to  the  very  letter;  and  no  man  or  woman 
before  the  war,  during  the  war,  nor  since  the  war,  can  say 
anything  else  and  tell  the  truth.  Religiously,  my  father 
and  mother  were  Baptists,  and  I  believe  that  they  were 
Christians. 


EARLY  SETTLEMENTS. 


In  the  year  1844  father  sold  out  and  in  May  started 
to  move  to  the  state  of  Texas ;  crossed  the  Mississippi 
river  at  Green's  old  ferry,  came  by  the  way  of  Jackson, 
Missouri,  and  traveled  the  old  military  road  made  by  the 
government  troops  in  removing  the  Cherokee  Indians  from 
the  state  of  Alabama  to  their  present  location — only  road 
leading  west — and  in  July  of  the  same  year  (learning  that  it 
was  very  dangerous  for  a  man  to  take  his  family  into  the  state 
of  Texas  on  account  of  the  Indians),  he  concluded  to  locate 
in  Fulton  county,  Arkansas,  purchased  an  improvement 
and  located  on  what  is  known  as  Bennett's  river,  about  25 
miles  from  where  West  Plains  is  now  located.  The  fam 
ily  at  that  time  consisted  of  six  persons,  to -wit:  father, 
mother  and  four  sons,  the  author  then  being  in  his  fifteenth 
year;  father,  being  a  farmer  by  occupation,  went  to  work 
on  the  farm.  The  country  at  that  time  was  very  sparsely 
settled.  The  settlements  were  confined  to  the  creeks  and 
rivers,  where  were  found  plenty  of  water  and  springs.  No 
place  at  that  time  was  thought  worth  settling  unless  it  had 
a  spring  upon  it.  The  vegetation  was  luxuriant,  the  broom 
sedge  and  blue  stem  growing  as  high  as  a  man's  head — and 
he  upon  an  ordinary  horse.  The  table  lands,  which  were 
thought  at  that  time  to  be  worthless,  had  very  little  timber 
growing  on  them,  but  were  not  prairie.  There  were  what 
were  known  as  post  oak  runners  and  other  brush  growing 
on  the  table  lands,  but  the  grass  turf  was  very  heavy  and 
in  the  spring  of  the  year  the  grass  would  soon  cover  the 
sprouts  and  the  stranger  would  have  taken  all  of  the  table 


HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

lands,  except  where  it  was  interspersed  with  groves,  to  have 
been  prairie.  The  country  settled  up — some  of  the  settle 
ments  being  15  miles  apart — yet  the  early  settlers  thought 
nothing  of  neighboring  and  assisting  each  other  as  neigh 
bors  for  the  distance  of  15  miles.  At  that  time  Fulton 
county  contained  all  of  the  present  territory  that  now  in 
cludes  Baxter,  Fulton  and  a  part  of  Sharp  counties;  and 
but  a  short  time  previous  to  the  organization  of  Fulton,  all 
of  the  territory  that  now  embraces  Fulton, Baxter  and  Sharp ; 
Izard  belonged  to  Independence  county  and  Batesville  was 
the  county  seat.  My  father  located  about  five  miles  from 
the  state  line. 

Ozark  county,  in  Missouri,  joined  Fulton  county  on 
the  state  line  and  all  of  the  territory  that  now  comprises 
Ozark,  Douglas  and  the  west  half  of  Howell,  belonged  to 
Ozark  county  and  Rockbridge,its  county  seat,  being  located 
on  Bryan's  Fork  of  the  North  Fork,  about  50  miles  from 
the  state  line.  Oregon  county  contained  all  the  territory 
that  now  comprises  Oregon,  Shannon,  and  the  east  end  of 
Howell ;  and  a  short  time  previous  all  of  the  territory  that 
now  comprises  Ripley,  Oregon,  Carter  and  Shannon  be 
longed  to  Ripley  county ;  and  all  of  the  territory  that  now 
comprises  Texas,  Dent,  Wright  and  Crawford  counties  be 
longed  to  Crawford  county.  The  country  at  that  time 
abounded  in  millions  of  deer,  turkeys,  bears,  wolves  and 
small  animals.  I  remember  as  my  father  was  moving  west 
and  after  he  had  crossed  White  Water  near  what  was  known 
as  Bullinger's  old  mill,  that  we  could  see  the  deer  feeding 
on  the  hills  in  great  herds  like  cattle,  and  wild  turkeys  were 
in  abundance.  Wild  meat  was  so  plentiful  that  the  settlers 
chiefly  subsisted  upon  the  flesh  of  wild  animals  until  they 
could  grow  some  tame  stock,  such  as  hogs  and  cattle.  This 
country  then  was  almost  a  "land  of  honey."  Bees  abound 
ed  in  great  number  and  men  hunted  them  for  the  profit 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS 

they  derived  from  the  beeswax.  There  was  no  such  thing 
known  as  a  bee  moth. 

Honeydew  fell  in  such  quantities  as  to  completely  kill 
the  tops  of  the  grass  where  it  was  open.  I  have  known 
young  turkeys,  after  they  were,  large  enough  for  use,  to 
have  their  wings  so  gummed  with  honeydew  that  they 
could  not  fly  out  of  the  way  of  a  dog — have  known  lots  of 
them  to  be  caught  with  dogs  when  they  wanted  to  use 
them.  There  was  no  question  in  regard  to  there  being 
honey  when  you  cut  a  bee  tree,  if  the  hollow  and  space  in 
the  tree  were  sufficient  and  the  bees  had  had  time  to  fill  it. 
I  have  known  bee  trees  being  cut  that  had  8  and  10  feet  of 
solid  comb  that  was  candied  and  grained.  When  my  father 
first  located,  beeswax,  peltry  and  fur  skins  almost  consti 
tuted  the  currency  of  the  country.  I  remember  that  a  short 
time  after  my  father  located,  a  gentleman  came  to  my  fath 
er's  house  and  wanted  to  buy  a  horse  and  offered  to  pay 
him  in  beeswax  and  peltry,  and  as  I  had  been  accustomed 
to  paper  currency  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  I  asked  my  father 
what  kind  of  money  peltry  was.  He  laughed  and  remarked, 
"Well  son,  it  is  not  money  at  all;  it  is  deer  skins."  A 
man  thought  nothing  of  buying  a  horse  or  a  yoke  of  oxen, 
or  to  make  any  other  common  debt  on  the  promise  of  dis 
charging  the  same  in  beeswax  and  peltry  in  one  month's 
time. 

The  immigration  consisted  mostly  of  farmers  and 
mechanics.  A.mong  the  mechanics  were  coopers  who  would 
make  large  hogsheads  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  honey 
after  it  was  separated  from  the  bees  wax,  and  a  man  then  had 
his  choice  to  to  use  either  candied  honey  or  fresh  honey.  I 
knew  whole  hogsheads  that  were  full  of  candied  honey. 
When  men  would  make  a  contract  to  deliver  any  amount  or 
number  of  pounds  of  beeswax,  and  within  a  given  time, 
especially  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  they  would  either  take  a 


10  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN   MISSOURI 

yoke  of  cattle  or  two  horses  and  a  wagon  and  with  their 
guns  and  camp  equipage  go  out  from  the  settlements  into 
what  was  then  termed  the  '  'wilderness, '  'and  burn  bee  comb. 
In  a  short  time  the  bees  would  be  working  so  strong  to  the 
bait  that  they  could  scarcely  course  them.  In  the  morning 
they  would  hunt  deer,  take  off  pelts  until  the  deer  would 
lie  down,  then  they  would  hunt  bees  and  mark  the  trees 
until  the  deer  would  get  up  to  feed  in  the  afternoon,  when 
they  would  again  resume  their  hunt  for  deer.  After  they 
had  found  a  sufficient  number  of  bee  trees  and  marked 
them,  the  morning  following  they  would  go  out  and  kill 
nothing  but  large  deer;caseskin  them  until  they  had  a  suffi 
cient  number  of  hides  to  contain  the  honey  that  they  expect 
ed  to  take  from  the  trees,  take  the  hides  to  the  camp,  tie  a 
knot  in  the  fore  legs  of  the  hide,  take  dressed  buckskin  and 
a  big  awl,  roll  the  hide  of  the  neck  in  about  three  folds, 
run  two  rows  of  stitches,  draw  it  tight,  then  go  to  their 
wagons  with  ridgepole  and  hooks  already  prepared,  knot 
the  hind  legs  of  the  skins,  hang  them  over  the  hooks,  take 
their  tub, a  knife  and  spoon,  proceed  to  the  trees,  stop  their 
team  a  sufficient  distance  from  the  tree  to  prevent  the  bees 
from  stinging  the  animals,  cut  the  tree,  take  out  the  hon 
ey,  place  it  in  the  tub,  and  when  the  tub  was  filled  carry  it 
to  the  wagon  where  the  hides  were  prepared,  empty  their 
tubs  into  the  deer  skins,  return  again  to  another  tree  and 
continue  cutting  until  the  hides  were  all  filled  with  honey ; 
then  they  would  return  home,  take  the  hides  from  the  hooks 
on  the  ridge  pole  on  the  wagon,  hang  them  on  hooks  prepar 
ed  for  the  purpose  in  the  smokehouse  and  then  the  men's 
work  was  done. 

The  labor  of  the  women  then  commenced.  They  would 
proceed  to  separate  the  honey  from  the  beeswax,  pour 
ing  the  honey  into  hogsheads,  kegs  or  barrels  prepared  for 
it,  and  running  the  beeswax  into  cakes  ready  for  the  mar- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  11 

ket,  while  the  men  were  stretching  and  drying  the  deer 
skins.  As  soon  as  the  deerskins  were  dried  and  the  honey 
was  separated  from  the  beeswax,  they  were  ready  for  the 
market  and  took  their  place  as  currency,  while  the  flesh  of 
the  deer,  sometimes,  when  bread  was  scarce,  took  the  place 
of  both  bread  and  meat,  with  a  change,  whenever  the  appe 
tite  called  for  it,  to  turkey  and  other  wild  game. 

At  night  they  would  hunt  for  fur  animals,  such  as  rac 
coon,  fox  and  mink,  and  stretch  their  hides;  a  first-class 
raccoon  hide  would  sell  for  40  to  50  cents;  fox,  25  and  30 
cents;  mink,  from  65  to  75c.  I  have  often  known  the  peo 
ple  to  pay  their  taxes,  when  the  collector  came  around, 
with  fur  skins,  such  as  raccoon  and  fox.  The  collector 
would  take  the  hides  right  at  the  house  and  give  them  a 
clear  receipt  for  their  taxes,  both  state  and  county.  I  have 
seen  collectors  leading  a  horse  for  the  purpose  of  carry 
ing  his  fur  skins.  I  have  seen  the  horse  completely  cov 
ered  with  fur  skins,  so  you  could  see  no  part  of  him  but 
his  head  and  his  hoofs  and  tail  —  one  could  not  have  told 
there  was  a  horse  beneath  the  load  unless  he  had  known  it. 

The  people  then  had  many  advantages  that  they  are  de 
prived  of  now,  in  the  way  of  wild  meat,  abundance  of  hon- 
cy  and  fine  range.  A  man  could  raise  all  the  stock  in  the 
way  of  horses  and  cattle  that  he  could  possibly  look  after; 
the  only  expense  was  salting  and  caring  for  them  —  didn't 
have  to  feed,  \vinter  nor  summer,  except  the  horses  in  use 
and  the  cows  used  for  milking  purposes.  While,  on  the 
otherhand,  they  labored  under  a  great  many  disadvantages, 
in  the  way  of  schools  and  churches.  During  the  residence 
of  my  father  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  we  had  a  very  good 
common  school  system,  and  we  had  three  months  of  school 
every  fall.  My  father  being  a  farmer,  sent  me  only  the 
three  months'  term  in  the  fall.  I  had  acquired  a  limited 
education  before  his  removal  to  Arkansas,  yet  he  was  in- 


12  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

terested  in  giving  his  children  an  education.  At  that  time 
there  were  no  free  schools,  only  subscription  schools ;  teach 
ers  gererally  were  incompetent  and  employed  through  fa 
voritism,  and  not  upon  their  qualifications  to  teach.  In  a 
year  or  two  after  my  father  located,  the  settlement  got  to- 
.gether  and  located  a  school -house  site,  took  their  teams, 
hauled  round  logs,  built  them  into  walls,  made  a  dirt  floor, 
cut  out  a  large  window  in  the  side,  split  a  tree  and  made  a 
writing  desk,  split  small  trees,  hewed  them  and  made 
benches  for  seats,  cut  a  hole  in  one  end  of  the  house,  erect 
ed  a  wooden  chimney,  what  was  then  known  as  a  stick  and 
clay  chimney,  chinked  and  daubed  the  cracks,  made  a 
clapboard  roof,  hung  the  door  with  wooden  hinges,  then 
the  house  was  considered  ready  for  the  school  and  had  the 
name  of  teaching  a  three-months'  subscription  school;  and 
yery  often  half  of  the  pupils  were  better  scholars  than  the 
teachers.  All  they  gained  in  their  education  was  by  atten 
tion  to  study.  As  the  country  improved  in  population,  the 
people  improved  in  the  erection  of  school -houses  and 
church -houses  and  constructed,  in  place  of  the  round  log 
school -house  and  dirt  floor,  hewed  log  school -houses  with 
puncheon  floors,  stick  and  clay  chimneys. 

Those  pioneer  settlers  took  a  great  interest  in  each 
other's  welfare,  and  the  different  settlements  met  together 
from  a  distance  of  15  to  40  miles  and  adopted  rules  and 
customs  binding  each  other  to  aid  and  assist  in  helping  any 
person  who  met  with  any  misfortune  in  the  way  of  sickness, 
death  or  other  causes  that  might  occur,  and  I  must  say 
that  there  was  more  charity  and  real  religion  practiced 
among  those  pioneer  settlers,  although  many  of  them  were 
looked  upon  as  being  crude  and  unlettered.  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  sickness  along  the  streams,  especially  chills 
and  fever.  Immigrants  came  in,  generally  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  form  a  settlement;  and  I  have  knowrn  them, 


AND  NORTHERN  ARKANSAS  13 

very  often,  after  they  had  located  and  opened  out  10  to  15 
acres  and  put  it  in  cultivation  and  broke  the  ground  and 
planted  their  corn,  for  the  whole  family  to  be  taken  down 
at  one  time  with  chills  and  fever,  not  able  even  to  help 
each  other  or  administer  to  their  wants.  As  soon  as  the 
information  reached  the  other  settlements  for  a  distance  of 
15  miles  or  more,  the  different  settlements  would  set  a  day 
to  meet  at  the  place  with  their  horses,  plows,  hoes,  wagons, 
etc.;  also  provisions,  such  as  bread -stuff  and  salt.  On 
meeting,  they  would  ascertain  the  condition  of  the  family 
or  families  and  learn  what  they  needed  in  the  way  of  pro 
vision,  medicine,  nursing,  etc. ;  they  would  then  and  there 
agree  that  the  different  settlements  should  divide  up  the 
time,  set  the  day  for  each  one  to  furnish  waiters  to  wait 
upon  them  in  their  sickness,  such  medicine  as  -they  need 
ed,  provisions  and  everything  that  was  necessary  to  render 
comfort,  and  in  the  morning  before  breakfast  they  would 
go  out  and  kill  a  deer  and  as  many  turkeys  as  they  needed, 
dress  them,  prepare  them  for  the  cook,  who  had  been 
brought  with  them,  go  into  the  field  after  breakfast,  plow 
and  hoe  the  corn,  clean  out  the  garden,  leave  the  families  in 
charge  of  nurses  and  return  again  to  their  respective  set 
tlements.  Those  families,  as  soon  as  they  were  well,  not 
being  acquainted  with  the  customs  and  rules,  would  meet 
them  and  inquire  as  to  what  amount  they  owed  them  for 
what  they  had  done  for  them  during  their  sickness.  They 
would  be  readily  informed,  "Nothing.  You  are  not  ac 
quainted  with  our  rules  and  customs.  Now,  we  have  obli 
gated  and  pledged  ourselves  together  not  to  let  any  sick  or 
other  disabled  person  suffer  for  the  want  of  necessary  at 
tention,  and  the  only  thing  we  require  of  you  is,  if  any 
other  person  should  move  into  the  country  and  locate,  and 
should  be  taken  down  and  confined  through  sickness  or 
any  other  cause,  that  you  help  in  furnishing  such  aid  and 


14  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

necessaries  as  they  may  need  until  they  are  able  to  again 
take  care  of  themselves."  Now,  I  have  just  remarked  that 
there  was  more  real  charity  and  religion  practiced  among 
pioneers  than  there  is  in  the  present  day.  The  people  then 
all  appeared  to  be  interested  in  bettering  the  condition  of 
society. 

As  soon  as  it  was  possible,  the  different  settlements 
erected  church -houses  built  of  hewed  timber,  floored  with 
puncheons,  hewed  seats,  size  of  house  generally  from  18  by 
20  to  22  by  25  feet,  chinked  and  daubed.  The  churches  or 
denominations  then  were  Baptists  and  Methodists.  There 
didn't  appear  to  be  any  antagonism  or  hatred  existing  be 
tween  the  denominations  ;  the  doors  were  thrown  wide  open 
for  any  minister  that  might  travel  through  and  they  all 
turned  out,  and  you  heard  nothing  said  then  in  regard  to 
"my  church"  or  "your  church,"  They  appeared  to  rec 
ognize  the  fact  that  it  was  the  Lord's  church  and  that  they 
were  the  Lord's  people.  In  going  to  church,  sometimes 
from  1  to  10  miles,  they  would  see  flocks  of  turkeys  and 
herds  of  wild  deer,  both  going  and  coming.  As  soon  as 
the  crops  were  laid  by,  they  would  agree  among  the  differ 
ent  settlements  as  to  where  a  campmeeting  should  be  held; 
they  would  then  erect  camps  or  huts,  make  boards  to 
cover  them,  erect  an  arbor,  fill  the  center  of  it  with  straw, 
and  to  the  distance  of  25  to  35  miles  they  would  all  turn 
out,  irrespective  of  denomination,  and  all  appeared  to  enjoy 
themselves,  and  the  love  of  Christ  appeared  to  dwell  in  each 
heart,  and  they  appeared  to  be  proud  of  the  privilege  of 
meeting  each  other  and  worshiping  together.  If  any 
member  belonging  to  either  of  the  denominations  defrauded, 
or  in  any  way  wronged  his  brother,  he  was  at  once  waited 
upon  and  requested  to  make  reparation  to  his  brother  and 
acknowledge  to  his  brother  and  to  the  church,  or  he  was 
withdrawn  from  or  turned  out  of  the  church.  The  immi- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  15 

gration  was  chiefly  from  the  Middle  States,  some  from  the 
Southern  States  and  very  few  from  the  Northeastern  States. 
They  were  frugal,  energetic,  honest,  intelligent  and  indus 
trious.  As  the  country  increased  in  population,  the  facili 
ties  of  bc^h  schools  and  churches  improved. 

The  customs  and  habits  were  entirely  different  from 
those  existing  now  ;  the  wearing  apparel  was  entirely  home 
made  ;  they  would  raise  their  cotton,  pick  it  out  with  their 
ringers  or  a  hand  gin,  women  would  spin  their  warp,  spin 
their  filling,  get  their  different  colors  from  different  barks 
for  men's  wear;  the  women  used  indigo  and  copperas  for 
the  main  colors  in  manufacturing  the  cloth  for  dresses, 
wound  their  stripes  on  a  stick  and  then  wove  it  into  cloth ; 
you  could  scarcely  visit  a  house  but  what  you  would  see  a 
loom,  big  spinning-wheel  and  little  wheel;  sometimes  you 
would  see  three  or  four  wheels  at  one  house.  They  made 
both  their  every  day  and  Sunday  wear ;  the  women  appeared 
to  take  great  pride  in  seeing  who  could  weave  the  nicest 
piece  of  cloth,  make  it  into  a  dress,  make  cloth  and  make  it 
into  what  was  known  as  Virginia  bonnets,  and  the  men 
tanned  their  own  leather,  made  shoes  for  the  whole  family. 
When  the  women  were  dressed  completely  in  their  home 
spun  they  appeared  to  enjoy  themselves,  in' church,  in  com 
pany  or  any  other  gathering,  and  felt  just  as  independent 
and  proud  as  the  king  upon  his  throne;  they  appeared  to 
meet  each  other  and  greet  each  other  and  all  appeared  to 
realize  the  fact  that  they  were  human  and  they  had  but  one 
superior  and  that  was  God.  The  women  spun  the  warp, 
spun  the  wool,  wove  it  into  cloth,  procured  the  different 
barks  from  the  woods  and  dyed  it,  the  general  color  being 
brown,  made  it  with  their  own  hands  into  coats,  pants,  un 
dershirts  ;  made  overshirts  out  of  homespun  cotton  and  the 
\vhole  suit  was  home-made,  and  very  often  a  cap,  made 
either  of  the  raccoon  or  a  fox,  was  worn  on  the  head. 


16  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

When  men  met  each  other  at  any  public  gathering  they 
appeared  to  be  proud  of  meeting  each  other ;  appeared  to 
realize  the  fact  that  they  were  all  American  citizens  and 
human,  bound  together  by  the  ties  of  love  and  affection,  and 
the  highest  ambition  appeared  to  be  to  make  each  other 
happy  and  help  one  another  in  time  of  need. 

I  don't  believe  there  was  as  much  dissipation  by  par 
taking  of  intoxicants,  or  other  wickedness,  as  exists  to-day 
among  the  same  number  of  persons.  It  is  true  that  then 
any  man  who  was  able  to  purchase  a  little  still  and  had  a 
spring  could  erect  his  own  still  house  and  make  his  own 
whiskey  without  paying  any  tax  or  duty  upon  the  same,  and 
anyone  of  his  neighbors  who  wanted  a  gallon  of  whiskey 
could  carry  a  bushel  of  corn  to  the  still -house  and  get  a 
gallon  of  whiskey  in  exchange  for  it.  And  if  men  became 
drunk  on  the  whiskey  it 'did  not  appear  to  make  them  wild 
and  crazy  as  the  whiskey  of  to-day  does. 

Men  then,  as  well  as  now,  would  have  disagreements 
and  fall  out  and  fight,  but  the  custom  that  prevailed  among 
that  class  would  not  tolerate  nor  allow  a  man  to  use  weap 
ons,  and  if  two  men  had  a  disagreement,  one  of  them  being 
a  large,  stout  man  physically,  the  other  being  a  small  man, 
not  equal  in  strength — if  they  were  together  in  a  public 
place  and  the  large  one  would  challenge  the  weaker  to  fight 
him,  before  he  could  hardly  open  his  mouth,  some  man 
present  who  considered  himself  to  be  his  equal  in  physical 
strength,  would  just  say  to  him  "now  then,  if  you  want  to 
fight,  that  man  is  not  your  equal,  but  I  am;  get  your  second 
and  walk  out  and  I  will  do  the  fighting  for  this  other  man." 
I  have,  on  different  occasions,  seen  the  large  man  who  was 
challenging  the  weaker  for  a  fight  reply  to  the  challenge  and 
say,  "My  friend,  I  have  nothing  against  you;  this  other 
man  hasn't  treated  me  right,"  or  set  out  some  other  reason 
that  he  ought  to  whip  him;  the  man  in  reply  would  say,  "I 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  17 

don't  want  to  hear  another  word  from  you  in  regard  to 
wanting  to  fight  this  other  man,  and  if  I  do  you  have  got 
me  to  fight."  Very  often  I  have  seen  the  man  shut  his 
mouth  and  turn  away  and  say  nt  thing  more.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  have  heard  a  man  say  to  another,  "If  you 
want  to  fight,  I  am  your  man;  the  other  man  is  unable  to 
fight  you,''  and  in  an  instant  the  other  would  reply. 
"Well,  sir,  I  am  your  man;  just  as  leave  fight  you  as 
anybody  else."  They  would  select  their  seconds,  take  a 
drink  of  whiskey  together,  enter  into  an  agreement  that 
whenever  the  seconds  said  either  one  was  whipped,  that 
they  were  to  abide  by  it,  unless  they  found  out  before, their 
seconds  did  that  they  were  whipped,  and  if  so,  they  would 
manifest  it  by  holloing  "enough,"  when  the  other  person 
was  to  stop  at  once  and  inflict  no  more  injury.  I  have  oft 
en  seen  them  fight  until  they  were  both  as  bloody  as  butch 
ers  and  in  the  end  the  seconds  would  have  to  hollo  for  one 
or  the  other.  As  soon  as  they  were  separated  they  would 
go  to  the  same  pool  or  place  where  there  was  water  and 
wash  themselves,  and  walk  arm-in-arm,  laughing  and  talk 
ing  and  drinking  together  and  remark,  "We  are  now  fast 
friends  and  we  have  settled  the  matter  as  to  which  was  the 
best  man."  And  if  a  man  would  produce  a  weapon  on 
either  side  his  own  friends  would  turn  against  him  and  he 
would  be  forced  to  put  it  up  at  once.  Men  then  appeared 
to  be  governed  by  that  higher  inspiration,  that  a  man 
should  not  use  anything  that  would  permanently  disable  or 
take  the  life  of  his  fellow-man;  but  if  one  man  became 
pregnant  with  fight  or  desire  to  maim  his  fellow-man,  in 
order  that  he  should  not  be  disappointed,  some  man  would 
readily  volunteer,  who  believed  that  he  was  his  equal 
physically,  and  deliver  him  of  all  his  fighting  propensities. 


18  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Dow  Bryant  and  a  Gallon  of  Whisky 

I  will  here  relate  an  instance  that  I  well  remember.  A 
man  by  the  name  of  Bridges  lived  just  above  where  Bak- 
ersficld  is  now  located,  owned  a  little  mill  at  the  same  place 
where  they  still  continue  the  work  of  the  mill  just  above 
Bakersfield.  The  mill  ground  from  twelve  to  fifteen  bush 
els  per  day;  most  of  us  carried  our  sacks  on  horseback, 
and  ground  b}^  turns.  Bridges  had  employed  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Math  Shipman  to  run  the  mill.  He  wras  a  small 
man  weighing  only  about  135  pounds,  and  there  was  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Dow  Bryant,  lately  from  the  state  of 
Tennessee,  quite  a  large  man,  weighing  225  pounds,  who 
delighted  in  fighing  under  the  old  style,  and  claimed  that 
he  had  whipped  two  of  the  best  men  in  Tennessee  at  the 
same  time.  Shipman  had  made  some  statement  that  re 
flected  upon  Bryant;  so  Bryant  procured  a  gallon  of  whis 
key,  and,  Liking  two  men  with  him,  went  from  Bennett's 
river  over  to  the  mill  and  informed  Shipman  of  what  he 
had  heard  he  had  said  in  regard  to  him,  and  said  to  Ship 
man  that  if  he  had  said  it  and  didn't  take  it  back,  he  would 
have  to  whip  him,  and  the  only  thing  he  hated  about  it 
would  be  the  whipping  of  as  little  a  man  as  he  was.  Ship  - 
man  replied  that  he  need  not  take  that  matter  into  consid 
eration,  and  that  his  father  had  always  taught  him  that  if 
he  told  anything  and  it  was  the  truth,  not  to  take  it  back 
under  any  consideration,  and  that  what  he  had  said  was 
true;  and  as  to  his  whipping  him,  his  father  had  always 
taught  him  never  to  admit  anything  until  he  knew  it  was 
true;  and  "I  have  my  doubts  about  you  being  able  to  whip 
me;  but  if  you  will  get  your  second  ready,  as  soon  as  the 
corn  that  is  in  the  hopper  is  ground  out  and  I  refill  the 
hopper  I  will  get  my  second  and  we  will  go  out  into  the 
mill  yard  so  you  can  test  it."  They  accordingly  got  their 
seconds,  went  into  the  mill  yard,  formed  a  ring,  and  when 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  19 

the  word  was  given  by  the  seconds,  they  went  together. 
Shipman  bit  every  finger  on  the  right  hand  and  three  fin 
gers  on  the  left  hand  to  the  bone;  and  Bryant's  friends, 
seeing  he  was  going  to  be  whipped,  proposed  parting  them. 
Bryant  returned  home,  and  when  his  neighbors  would 
meet  him  with  his  fingers  all  bound  up,  they  would  say, 
"Hello  there!  What's  the  matter?"  His  reply  would  be, 
"I  went  over  into  the  wilderness  and  got  hold  of  a  wild 
cat,  and  it  like  to  have  eaten  me  up  before  I  could  get 
loose  from  it."  He  would  further  say  that  Shipman 
was  all  mouth,  and  that  he  could  not  put  his  hands  any 
where  about  his  head  unless  he  got  them  in  his  mouth. 

I  will  give  another  instance  touching  the  same  man 
(Bryant).  He  went  over  to  Salem  during  circuit  court. 
The  sheriff  of  the  county  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Dick 
Benton,  quite  a  small  man,  and  the  constable  of  the  town 
ship  was  named  Moore  and  a  very  small  man.  Bryant  was 
drinking  some,  and  wanted  to  fight  as  usual,  and  became 
noisy.  The  judge  ordered  the  constable  to  arrest  him ; 
but  when  Bryant  saw  the  constable  coming,  he  backed  be 
hind  an  old  building,  and  ordered  the  constable  not  to 
rush  upon  him.  When  the  constable  came  in  reach,  he 
knocked  him  down,  came  walking  around,  and  remarked 
that  no  tickey  officer  could  arrest  him.  The  judge  then 
ordered  the  sheriff  to  arrest  him.  When  the  sheriff  came 
within  reach,  he  knocked  him  down,  came  walking  back, 
and  remarked,  "I  thought  they  understood  me  when  I  told 
them  that  a  tickey  set  of  officers  could  not  arrest  me." 
During  the  time  the  father-in-law  of  the  sheriff  had  come 

out.     Bryant    walked    up    to  him,   and  with  a  d said: 

I  want  to  know  what  you  are  doing  here."  Without  any 
more  words  being  passed,  the  sheriff's  father-in-law  knock 
ed  Bryant  down,  jumped  onto  him,  but  he  holloed,  and 
they  took  him  off  Bryant  straightened  himself  up  right 


20  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

into  his  face  again  and  remarked,  "I  have  told  a  lie,  I  am 
not  whipped."  Without  any  more  words  he  knocked  him 
down  again  and  gave  him  a  considerable  pelting.  Bryant 
holloed  again,  and  after  they  had  taken  him  off,  he 
straightened  up  and  walked  off  about  ten  steps  distant, 
turned  around,  and  remarked,  "I  have  told  a  lie,  I  am  not 
whipped ;  but  I  am  not  going  to  say  it  within  reach  of  that 
old  man  any  more."  On  the  same  day  some  nipn  knocked 
him  down,  taking  a  common  clapboard,  hit  him  three  licks 
while  he  was  running  on  all  fours,  then  got  a  piece  of 
chalk  and  wrote  on  it,  "Dow's  board,"  and  nailed  it  up 
on  the  corner  of  the  square. 

The  drinking  class  for  years  used  all  manner  of 
language  and  obscenity  in  the  streets,  and  even  in  the 
hearing  of  the  court.  There  was  a  man  b}7  the  name  of 
Neeley  who  became  a  candidate  for  circuit  judge,  and  one 
of  the  main  reasons  he  urged  for  his  election  was  that,  if 
elected,  he  would  punish  all  offenders  of  the  public  peace, 
and  force  all  persons  to  respect  the  court,  and  he  would 
discharge  the  duties  with  some  dignity  and  respect  for 
himself  and  the  people.  Shortly  after  he  was  elected  and 
during  his  first  court,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Smith,  who 
lived  just  north  of  Salem  on  the  South  Fork,  and  who  had 
worked  for  his  election,  came  into  the  court  room  after  the 
court  was  in  session,  walked  around  to  the  judge,  took 
him  by  the  hand  and  remarked,  "Judge,  I  want  to  con 
gratulate  you  on  your  success,  and  I  hope  things  will 
change."  The  judge  turned  to  the  clerk  and  remarked, 
"Mr.  Clerk,  assess  a  fine  of  five  dollars  against  Mr. 
Smith."  Smith  soon  retired  from  the  court  room  and  de 
clared  that  Neeley  was  a  tyrant,  and  that  if  he  had  his  vote 
back  he  would  not  support  him.  In  the  afternoon  the 
judge  ordered  the  sheriff  to  bring  Mr.  Smith  into  the  court 
room  and  said  to  him,  "Mr  Smith,  you  were  a  warm 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  21 

friend  of  mine  in  my  canvass,  worked  for  my  election,  and 
no  doubt  contributed  much  to  my  success.  Now  I  don't 
want  to  disappoint  you  in  any  promises  that  I  made  during 
the  canvass,  but  after  court  is  convened  and  the  judge  on 
the  bench,  it  is  contempt  in  any  gentleman  to  come  up  and 
take  -him  by  the  hand  and  congratulate  him  on  his  success ; 
and  now  1  hope  that  you, with  all  others  of  my  frienls,  and 
those  who  are  not,  will  support  and  protect  me  in  enforc 
ing  the  dignity  of  the  court."  Mr.  Smith  at  once  became 
pacified,  and  said  that  the  judge  was  right. 

We  remember  another  instance  that  occurred  during 
the  same  court  There  was  a  young  lawyer,  who  came 
into  court,  wearing  a  very  fine  pair  of  boots,  and,  standing 
on  his  feet,  he  would  occasionally  raise  onto  his  toes,  and 
you  could  hear  his  boots  creak  all  over  the  court  room. 
The  judge  turned  to  him  and  remarked,  "Mr.,  what  did 
those  boots  cost  you?"  The  lawyer  quickly  replied,  "Ten 
dollars,  sir."  The  judge  remarked  to  him,  "I  think  you 
got  the  boots  too  cheap.  I  think  they  ought  to  be  worth 
twenty  dollars.  Mr.  Clerk,  assess  a  fine  of  ten  dollars 
against  this  man." 

On  the  next  day  a  man  by  the  name  of  Cage  Hogan,  a 
man  who  was  widely  known,  in  company  \vith  others,  got 
on  the  public  square,  near  the  saloon,  and  began  to  curse 
and  swear,  and  use  all  manner  of  obscenity.  The  judge 
ordered  the  sheriff  to  go  down  and  see  who  wras  making 
the  disturbance.  The  sheriff  went  out  to  the  place  and 
stated  to  the  crowd  that  the  judge  had  ordered  him  to  see 
who  was  creating  that  disturbance,  and  to  arrest  the  party. 
Hogan  remarked,  with  an  oath,  "You  go  back  and  tell  the 
old  judge  that  it  is  Cage  Hogan,  and  that  I  suppose  he  has 
heard  of  me  before,  and  I  don't  allow  sheriffs  to  arrest  me 
until  I  get  ready."  The  sheriff  came  back  and  reported  to 
the  court,  and  the  judge  made  an  order  for  him  to  proceed 


22  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

at  once  and  arrest  Mr.  Hogan  and  all  others  that  he  might 
find  acting  in  a  boistersous  manner,  and  if  necessary  to 
take  the  power  of  the  county,  and  if  he  didn't  immediate 
ly  bring  him  into  the  court  room  he  would  assess  a  fine 
against  him  of  $100.  The  sheriff  returned  and  informed 
Mr.  Hogan  of  what  the  court  had  said,  and  that  he  would 
be  bound  to  arrest  him  and  take  him  by  force  if  he  didn't 
go  without  it.  Hogan  remarked  that  if  it  would  be  any 
pleasure  and  consolation  to  the  old  tyrant  he  was  the  man 
who  could  go  into  the  court  room.  When  he  came  into 
the  court  room,  the  sheriff  said,  "Here  is  Mr.  Hogan." 
Mr.  Hogan  remarked,  with  an  oath,  "I  am  here,  judge, 
and  I  would  like  to  know  what  you  want."  The  judge  re 
plied  that  there  were  some  parties  creating  a  disturbance  in 
the  hearing  of  the  court  and  that  he  had  ordered  them  ar 
rested  and  brought  in.  "Do  you  know  who  the  parties 
are?"  Hogan,  with  an  oath,  replied,  "I  am  the  man; 
and,  judge,  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I  am  a  horse, 
and  if  you  hain't  become  acquainted  with  old  Cage  Ho 
gan,  you  will."  The  judge  remarked  to  him  that  they  had 
a  stable  and  that  was  the  place  for  horses,  and  that  he 
would  assess  a  fine  of  $50  against  him,  and  ordered  the 
sheriff  to  take  him  to  jail  until  it  was  paid.  Hogan,  re 
marking,  "I  always  carry  the  money  to  pay  my  way,  and 
you  need  not  put  yourself  to  any  trouble  to  have  the  sher 
iff  carry  me  to  jail,"  pulled  out  his  pocket  book,  took  out 
$50,  and  said,  writh  an  oath,  "Here  is  the  mone3r,  and  I 
want  you  to  understand  that  I  am  no  jail  bird,  and  you 
can't  stick  me  in  your  old  jail."  The  judge  then  said, 
"Mr.  Hogan  seems  to  have  plenty  of  money;  Mr.  Clerk 
assess  another  $50  fine  against  him."  At  that  Hogan  ap 
peared  to  hesitate  and  reflect,  and,  pulling  out  a  quart  bot 
tle  of  whiskey  from  his  pocket,  started  to  approach  the 
judge,  who  was  on  the  bench,  saying  with  an  oath,  "Here, 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  23 

judge,  lets  drink  together  and  be  friends  and  stop  this 
foolishness."  The  judge  turned  to  the  clerk  and  said: 
"Mr.  Clerk,  assess  another  fine  of  $50  against  him,"  and 
ordered  the  sheriff  to  take  him  forthwith  to  jail  and  keep 
him  there  until  further  orders,  for  he  considered  him  an 
unlawful  horse,  and  he  did  not  think  it  safe  for  society 
for  him  to  run  at  large.  The  sheriff,  with  a  consider 
able  posse,  carried  him  to  the  jail,  and  with  considerable 
trouble  put  him  in  and  shut  him  up.  He  remained  in  jail 
two  days,  and  at  the  evening  session  of  the  second  day  the 
sheriff  came  into  court  and  said  that  Mr.  Hogan  was  very 
desirous  of  seeing  the  court.  The  court  then  ordered  him 
brought  in.  On  his  being  brought  in,  the  court  asked  him 
if  he  still  thought  he  was  a  horse.  Hogan  replied,  "No, 
sir;  I  am  not  anything  now  but  Cage  Hogan."  The  judge 
said:  "As  you  have  now  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  you 
are  human  and  not  animal,  are  you  willing  to  respect  the 
laws  of  your  land  and  the  dignity  of  this  court?"  Hogan 
replied:  "I  am,  judge,  with  all  my  heart."  The  judge 
then  said  to  him,  "What  about  that  money  of  yours ;  are 
you  able  to  pay  the  $150  fine?"  Hogan  said,  "No,  judge, 
I  don't  feel  like  I  could  pay  $150  this  evening;  I  don't 
feel  as  rich  and  as  brave  as  I  did  when  you  first  brought 
me  into  court,  and  I  want  }rou  to  be  as  lenient  with  me  as 
possible."  The  court  said,  "Mr.  Hogan,  if  you  will  prom 
ise  me  that  you  will  neither  disturb  the  dignity  of  this 
court  nor  incite  others  to  do  so,  I  will  remit  all  of  your 
fine  except  $50."  Mr.  Hogan  then  and  there  paid  the  $50 
fine  and  wras  released.  From  that  time  up  to  the  end  of 
his  term  there  never  was  any  disturbance  of  any  nature  in 
the  hearing  of  the  court,  and  if  you  went  into  the  court 
room  everything  was  so  quiet  that  you  could  almost  hear  a 
pin  drop. 


24  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

The  Tutt  and  Evert  War. 

My  memory  is  that  it  was  in  the  year  1846  that  an  in 
cident  occurred  in  Marion  county  that  I  will  now  relate. 
It  was  known  as  the  Tutt  and  Evert  war.  They  were  once 
fast  friends.  They  met  in  Yellville,  the  county  seat,  and 
while  there  one  of  the  Everts  purchased  a  set  of  silver 
spoons  at  the  store  of  one  of  the  Tutts.  Afterwards  a  mis 
understanding  grew  up  between  them  as  to  the  payment 
for  the  spoons,  which  led  them  into  a  fight.  Afterwards, 
which  was  often,  when  they  would  meet  in  Vellvilie,  they 
would  hardly  ever  get  away  without  some  fighting  taking 
place  between  the  parties.  There  was  a  large  gathering 
and  a  public  demonstration  to  take  place  within  a  few 
weeks.  The  Tutts  declared,  backed  by  the  Kings,  that  if 
the  Everts  came  into  town  that  day  they  would  kill  them 
outright.  Both  parties  came  in  early  in  the  day,  heavily 
armed.  After  coming  under  the  influence  of  intoxicants  to 
some  extent, 'Evert  went  into  the  public  square  and  stated 
what  he  had  heard  from  the  Tutts,  and  said  that  if  they, 
the  Tutts  and  Kings,  were  ready  for  the  conflict,  there 
never  was  a  better  time  than  then,  and  that  they,  the  Ev 
erts,  were  fully  ready.  Both  parties,  in  short  range,  opened 
fire.  One  of  the  Kings  shot  Simm  P^vert  during  the  fight, 
supposed  to  be  through  the  heart.  One  of  the  Kings,  just 
previous  to  the  shooting  of  Evert,  had  been  shot  through 
the  hips  and  so  disabled  that  he  could  not  stand  upon  his 
feet.  After  Simm  Evert  had  received  the  wound,  he 
turned  around,  and,  within  a  few  steps  of  the  wounded 
King,  picked  up  a  large  stone,  raised  it  in  both  hands, 
and,  stepping  up  to  King,  came  down  on  King's  head  with 
the  stone  with  all  the  force  possible,  completely  crushing 
King's  head.  Then,  turning  around  and  walking  about 
three  steps,  he  remarked,  ''I  am  a  dead  man,"  and  fell  to 
the  ground  and  expired  within  a  few  minutes.  When  the 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  25 

smoke  cleared  away  and  the  fighting  ceased,  an  examina 
tion  showed  that  there  were  eight  or  ten  left  dead  on  the 
ground.  The  stoutest  men  afterwards  went  to  the  stone, 
but  there  wasn't  one  of  them  that  could  raise  it  from  the 
ground.  The  surviving  Kings  made  arrangements  and  at 
tempted  to  leave  the  country.  At  that  time  the  sheriff  of 
the  county  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Mooney.  A  writ 
was  placed  in  his  hands  and  he  arrested  them.  Shortly  af 
ter  the  arrest,  the  Everts  and  their  friends  came  upon  the 
sheriff  and  his  posse  and  demanded  the  prisoners.  The 
sheriff  gave  them  up,  and  they  were  all  shot.  The  sheriff 
then  appealed  to  the  governor  for  aid;  he  sent  the  militia, 
who  aided  the  sheriff  in  the  arrest  of  the  Everts,  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Stratton,  and  some  others  of  their  friends. 
The  governor  ordered  them  to  be  taken  to  Lawrence  coun 
ty  and  placed  in  the  Lawrence  county  jail  at  Smithville, 
the  county  seat  of  that  county.  I  saw  the  .militia  in  charge 
of  the  prisoners  pass  my  father's  house  on  their  way  to 
Smithville. 

In  about  ten  da}rs  after  they  were  put  in  prison,  late 
one  evening,  strange  men  commenced  dropping  into  the 
town,  who  were  unknown  to  the  citizens,  until  they  reach 
ed  to  about  the  number  of  sixty -five.  Somewhere  near 
midnight  they  paraded  the  streets,  and  the  jail  being  a  log 
jail,  they  prepared  levers  and  pried  it  up  and  let  the  pris 
oners  all  out,  and  they  all  left  together,  Evert,  Stratton, 
and  their  friends  proceeding  directly  to  Texas.  After  their 
families  had  reached  them  and  everything  had  quieted 
down,  they  sent  in  and  notified  Hamp  Tutt,  whom  they 
charged  with  being  the  inciter  and  leader  in  bringing  on 
the  original  trouble,  that  if  he  would  "hull  out"  and  leave 
the  state  they  would  not  kill  him.  Tutt  was  a  man  of  con 
siderable  wealth  and  declared  he  would  not  leave  the  state. 
He  at  once  hired  a.  young  doctor,  who  claimed  to  be  a  very 


26  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

brave  man,  to  act  as  his  body  guard,  and  kept  himself  very 
close  to  the  town  for  about  the  space  of  two  years.  One 
day,  however,  he  declared  that  he  was  going  to  take  a  ride 
out  on  the  main  public  road  for  his  health.  lie,  in  com 
pany  with  the  young  doctor,  then  rode  out  about  one  mile. 
On  returning,  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
town,  after  they  had  passed  the  place  where  they  were 
concealed,  they,  (the  Everts)  discharged  a  volley.  Two 
balls  entered  the  back  of  Tutt,  and  his  horse  made  but  a 
fewr  leaps  when  he  fell  to  the  ground.  The  young  doctor 
ran  for  dear  life,  reached  the  town,  and  gave  the  alarm. 
Parties  immediately  went  out  to  the  place,  but  found  that 
Tutt  was  dead.  On  examining  the  place  where  the  par 
ties  had  lain  in  ambush,  they  found  that  they  had  lain 
there  for  months  watching  for  the  opportunity.  So  ended 
the  Tutt  and  Evert  war. 

Indians  Chase  a  Sheriff  Ten  Miles. 

Now  the  author  will  relate  another  incident  that  oc 
curred  in  Marion  count}^,  Arkansas,  in  the  early  settling  of 
this  country.  There  was  a  large  relation  of  the  Coker 
family  who  lived  in  that  county.  One  of  the  Cokers  raised 
two  families,  one  by  a  white  woman  and  the  other  by  an 
Indian  woman.  The  Indian  family,  after  they  had  grown 
up  and  become  men,  resided  a  part  of  the  time  in  the  Na 
tion,  where  the  mother  lived,  and  a  part  of  the  time  they 
remained  in  Marion  county  where  their  father  and  Bother 
relatives  lived.  They  were  very  dangerous  men  when 
drinking,  and  the  whole  country  feared  them.  The}^  had 
been  in  different  troubles,  and  had  killed  three  or  four 
men,  and  if  the  authorities  attempted  to  arrest  them,  they 
defied  them,  and  would  go  to  the  Nation  and  remain 
awhile.  There  was  a  deputy  sheriff  in  the  county  by  the 
name  of  Stinnett,  who  claimed  to  be  very  brave,  who  said 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  27 

he  would  arrest  them  if  he  found  their  whereabouts.  The 
Cokers  learned  what  Stinnett  had  said,  and  that  the  war 
rant  for  their  arrest  was  in  his  possession,  so  they  got  some 
good  tow  strings  and  vowed  that  whenever  they  met  him 
they  would  arrest  him  and  take  him  to  Yellville  and  put 
him  in  jail.  A  short  time  afterwards  they  met  him  in  the 
public  road.  As  soon  as  Stinnett  recognized  them, 
and  having  heard  of  the  threats  they  had  made,  he 
wheeled  his  horse  and  put  spurs  to  him.  They  drew  their 
revolvers  and  put  spurs  to  their  horses  in  pursuit,  com 
manding  him  to  halt.  But  Stinnett  spurred  his  horse  the 
harder.  They  pursued  him  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles; 
but  Stinnett's  horse  proved  to  be  the  best,  and  he  made 
his  escape.  They  again  returned  to  the  Nation. 

The  good  people,  generally,  of  the  county  were  terror 
ized  and  afraid  to  raise  their  voices  against  them,  and  it 
became  a  question  as  to  whether  they  had  a  man  in  the 
county  who  had  the  courage  to  attempt  their  arrest.  They 
made  it  a  question  in  the  next  election,  to  elect  a  man  that 
would  make  the  arrest,  if  such  a  man  could  be  found  in  the 
county.  There  was  a  man  living  in  the  county  by  the 
name  of  Brown,  who  was  a  cousin  of  the  Cokers,  and  he 
told  the  people  that  if  they  would  elect  him,  he  would  ar 
rest  them  or  they  would  kill  him.  He  was  elected  by  a 
large  majority,  and,  after  he  had  qualified,  took  charge  of 
the  office.  The  first  time  the  Cokers  came  into  the  settle 
ment,  he  summoned  two  men,  thought  to  be  brave,  who 
pledged  themselves  that  if  it  became  necessary  they  would 
die  for  him.  He  then  went  to  the  house  of  one  of  the 
Coker  family  where  the  Cokers  were  staying,  and  on  his 
arrival  found  the  two  Coker  brothers  sitting  in  chairs  in 
the  yard.  He  was  within  some  thirty  feet  of  them  before 
they  saw  him.  Their  guns  were  sitting  near  them,  and 
they  seized  them;  but  before  they  could  present  them 


28  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Brown  had  his  revolver  cocked  and  leveled  at  one  of  their 
heads,  and  told  him  not  to  attempt  to  raise  his  gun  or  he 
would  kill  him.  Coker  turned  his  back  to  him  with  his 
gun  on  his  shoulder,  secretly  cocked  it,  and  leveled  it  upon 
Brown  as  near  as  possible  without  taking  it  from  his  shoul 
der  and  fired,  missing  his  aim.  About  the  same  time 
Brown  discharged  his  revolver  at  Coker  and  made  a  slight 
scalp  wound.  The  other  Coker  threw  his  gun  upon  Brown 
and  fired,  killing  him  instantly.  The  two  men  who  were 
acting  as  a  posse  for  the  sheriff  turned  and  fled,  leaving 
Brown  lying  dead  on  the  ground.  After  the  shooting  the 
Cokers  fled  to  the  Nation  and  remained  there. 

The  author  will  now  relate  another  incident  that  oc 
curred  in  the  same  county.  For  years  the  Cokers  and  Ho- 
gans  had  been  intimate  friends,  and  drank,  gambled,  and 
horseraced  together  a  great  deal.  There  came  up  a  troub 
le  between  Coker  and  one  of  his  brothers-in-law,  and  one 
evening  Coker,  in  company  with  Hogan,  went  to  the  house 
of  this  brother-in-law.  Both  had  been  drinking.  Coker 
swore  that  he  would  ride  onto  the  porch  of  his  brother -in 
law,  and  made  the  attempt.  His  brother-in-law  caught 
the  horse  by  the  bridle  and  warned  him  not  to  ride  onto 
porch,  and  that  if  he  did  he  would  kill  him.  Coker  drew 
his  revolver,  spurred  his  horse,  but  as  he  entered  the  porch 
his  brother-in-law  shot  him  dead.  Coker  being  a  cousin 
of  the  Indian  Cokers,  they  charged  Hogan  with  inducing 
him,  while  drinking,  to  go  to  his  brother-in-law's  house, 
so  as  to  give  him  a  chance  to  kill  him,  and  that  Hogan 's 
life  should  pay  the  penalty.  Shortly  afterwards  Hogan 
was  traveling  on  an  old  trail  that  led  along  the  bluff  of 
White  river.  The  river  here  made  a  bend  in  horseshoe 
shape,  following  the  bluff  all  around.  The  Cokers  learned 
that  Hogan  was  going  to  pass  through  this  gap,  and  they 
lay  in  wait  for  him,  cutting  off  all  avenues  of  escape  possi- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  29 

ble  so  he  would  be  forced  into  the  horseshoe  for  his  escape. 
When  he  came  in  sight  they  raised  the  Indian  warwhoop, 
and  drew  their  revolvers.  Hogan  looked  around  and  saw 
that  his  pursuers  were  in  about  a  hundred  yards  of  him. 
He  saw  his  predicament,  as  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  he  con 
fronted  the  bluff,  and  that  there  was  only  one  avenue  of 
escape.  He  went  to  the  edge  of  the  precipice  and  looked 
over.  There,  under  the  bluff,  lay  the  deep,  blue  waters 
of  White  river,  150  feet  below.  Again  he  turned  his  eyes 
toward  his  pursuers.  He  knew  it  meant  death  if  they 
caught  him;  so  he  made  the  fearful  leap  over  the  bluff, 
striking  the  water  where  it  was  about  twenty-five  feet  deep. 
Hogan  was  a  wicked  man  and  cursed  a  great  deal.  He 
swore  it  didn't  take  him  long  to  reach  the  water,  but  that 
he  thought  considerable  time  intervened  from  the  time  he 
struck  the  water  until  he  reached  the  top  again.  He  swam 
to  the  bank  which  was  but  a  few  feet  distant.  His  pursu 
ers  came  to  the  precipice,  looked  over,  and  said  that  they 
had  made  Hogan  do  something  they  had  intended  to  do, 
and  that  was,  to  take  his  own  life,  as  they  supposed  no  hu 
man  being  could  make  the  leap  and  live.  After  cutting 
his  saddle  and  bridle  to  pieces,  they  turned  his  horse  loose, 
and  reported  that  Hogan  was  killed.  Hogan  traveled 
around  under  the  bluff  for  about  two  miles,  made  his  way 
home,  wound  up  his  business,  sold  his  farm,  and  moved 
into  Fulton  county,  Arkansas,  which  ended  the  trouble  be 
tween  them. 

The  author  will  relate  another  incident  that  occurred 
in  Marion  county,  Arkanas.  There  was  a  widow  residing 
in  that  county,  who  was  left  with  a  family  of  children, 
among  them  a  boy  about  twelve  years  of  age.  Her  horse 
ran  away,  and  she  sent  her  boy  in  pursuit  of  it.  After  he 
had  found  it  and  was  returning  home,  leading  the  horse, 
Hogan  and  one  of  his  friends  met  him  in  the  road.  They 


30  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

had  both  been  drinking,  and  seeing  the  boy,  concluded  to 
have  some  fun  out  of  him.  Hogan,  with  an  oath,  said, 
"What  are  you  doing  with  my  horse?"  The  boy  replied, 
"It  is  not  your  horse,  it  is  mother's  horse."  Hogan 
sprang  off  his  horse,  and,  thinking  to  scare  the  boy  and 
have  some  fun  with  him,  said:  "Here,  you  know  it's  my 
horse;  give  him  up."  The  boy  pulled  a  barlow  knife  out 
of  his  pocket,  and,  opening  it,  said,  "You  attempt  to  come 
near  me,  and  I  will  stick  this  knife  into  you."  Hogan 
stepped  up  to  him  and  said,  "You  little  rascal,  would  you 
attempt  to  cut  me  with  a  knife?"  The  boy,  without  any 
further  words,  made  a  stroke  at  him  with  the  knife,  and 
the  blade  entered  his  body  near  the  left  breast.  Hogan 
declared  afterward  that  he  jumped  about  ten  feet  high. 
He  turned  to  his  friend  and  remarked:  "I  believe  our  fun 
with  the  little  bugger  has  caused  my  death,  or  at  least  a 
serious  wound."  He  went  to  a  physician,  had  the  wound 
probed,  and  found  the  knife  had  penetrated  a  rib  and 
reached  the  inside.  The  physician  informed  him  that  had 
it  passed  between  the  ribs  it  would  have  killed  him  in 
stantly.  Hogan  remarked  to  the  boy,  after  he  stabbed 
him,  "My  son,  you  are  made  out  of  the  right  kind  of 
stuff.  I  had  no  intention  of  hurting  you  or  taking  your 
mother's  horse  from  you,  I  merely  wanted  to  have  some 
fun;  but  I  see  I  have  struck  the  wr.ong  boy  this  time.  Go 
on  and  take  your  horse  to  your  mother." 

The  author  will  refer  to  another  incident  that  occurred 
in  Howell  county,  Missouri.  In  the  year  1860  there  was  a 
man  who  resided  in  West  Plains  by  the  name  of  Jack  Mc- 
Daniel,  who  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade.  This  same  Ho 
gan  came  to  town,  soon  became  under  the  influence  of 
whiskey,  went  down  to  McDaniel's  shop  with  a  horse,  and 
ordered  him  to  shoe  him.  McDaniel  had  two  other  horses 
in  the  shop  at  the  time  to  be  shod,  and  said  to  Hogan  that 


AND  NORTHERN  ARKANSAS  31 

as  soon  as  he  had  shod  those  two  horses,  he  would  shoe 
his.  Hogan  said,  "I  am  in  a  hurry,  and  I  want  you  to 
shoe  mine  now."  McDaniel  told  him  that  he  could  not 
shoe  his  horse  until  he  had  shod  the  other  two  horses. 
Hogan  said,  "If  you  don't  shoe  him  at  once,  I  will  whip 
you."  McDaniel  then  pulled  a  barlow  knife  out  of  his 
pocket,  and,  opening  it,  said:  "Yes;  and  if  you  fool  with 
me,  I  will  cut  your  throat  from  ear  to  ear."  At  this  re 
mark,  Hogan  moved  right  up  to  him  and  said,  "Just  smell 
of  my  neck."  McDaniel  struck  at  him  with  the  knife, 
and  the  blade  entered  just  under  the  ear,  cutting  to  the 
bone  all  the  way  around  into  the  mouth.  Hogan  went  to  a 
physician  in  West  Plains  and  had  the  wound  dressed.  He 
then  went  to  a  glass,  looked  in,  and  said  that  he  had  lived 
a  long  time,  been  in  many  tight  places,  but  he  had  never 
had  such  a  mouth  as  he  had  now,  and  remarked,  "My 
mouth  looks  as  if  it  was  spread  from  ear  to  ear." 

The  people  then  generally  gave  their  time  to  growing 
stock,  especially  horses  and  cattle,  as  hogs  and  sheep  had 
to  be  kept  close  around  the  farms  and  penned  of  a  night,  es 
pecially  the  pigs,  on  account  of  wolves  and  other  wild  ani 
mals.  I  have  known  the  wolves  to  kill  2  and  3  year  old 
cattle.  Farmers  fed  their  corn  chiefly  to  cattle,  horses  and 
mules  They  always  commanded  fair  prices.  Cattle,  at  the 
age  of  four  years  and  upwards  were  driven  to  Jacksonport, 
Arkansas  and  from  there  shipped  to  New  Orleans.  Horses 
and  mules  were  driven  to  Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  some 
to  the  Southern  part  of  Arkansas  and  there  put  upon  the 
market.  Prices  generally  ranging  from  $75  to  $150.  All 
of  our  groceries  were  purchased  in  New  Orleans,  shipped 
to  Jacksonport,  from  there  they  were  conveyed  by  wagons. 
Our  dry  goods  were  mostly  purchased  at  L/ynn  Creek, Mis 
souri  and  brought  through  by  wagon,  but  in  the  early  set 
tling  of  the  country  they  hauled  dry  goods  all  the  way 


32  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

from  St.  Louis  except  what  were  brought  into  the  country 
by  peddlers.  The  peddlers  would  go  to  St.  Louis  on  horse 
back  with  one  and  sometimes  two  led  horses,  buy  the 
goods,  pack  them,  place  them  on  their  horses  and  peddle 
all  the  way  from  St.  Louis  and  still  further  west  and  take  in 
exchange  all  kinds  of  fur  skins. 

I  have  seen  peddlers  with  one  horse  still  loaded  with 
goods  and  the  other  covered  with  fur  skins,  and  I  have 
seen  them  again  after  they  had  disposed  of  all  their  goods 
with  all  three  horses  completely  covered  with  fur  skins  and 
sometimes  so  heavily  loaded  that  the  peddler  would  either 
be  walking  and  leading  or  driving. 

Money  was  scarce  but  the  people  spent  very  little 
money,  were  not  in  debt  and  lived  much  better  and  easier 
than  they  do  now.  Their  counties  were  out  debt  and  the 
county  warrants  were  always  at  par. 

When  my  father  first  located  here,  there  were  about  four 
or  five  settlers  in  all  of  the  territory  that  now  belongs  to 
Howell  County;  there  were  but  three  men  that  resided  upon 
what  is  known  as  the  middle  bayou,  William  McCarty  and 
his  sons,  Green  and  Willis. 

In  about  three  years  after  my  father  settled  here,  Mc- 
Carties  sold  out  and  located  on  the  bayou  above  Bakers  - 
field.  In  1844  there  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Thomas 
Hall  who  resided  about  10  miles  southwest  of  West  Plains, 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Cyrus  Newberry  resided  about  10 
miles  from  where  West  Plains  now  is,  and  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Braudwaters  resided  near  where  Moody  is  now  lo 
cated. 

There  was  not  a  settlement  in  all  the  territory  that 
now  includes  Howell  valley.  There  had  been  a  settlement, 
by  a  man  who  was  a  hunter,  made  at  what  is  now  termed 
the  town  spring  at  West  Plains  who  had  cleared  five  or 
six  acres,  but  had  left  it.  All  the  valleys  in  Howell  conn- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS 

ty  were  considered  worthless  on  account  of  there  being  no 
water. 

When  the  country  commenced  settling,  there  was  no 
attention  paid  to  congressional  lines.  As  they  settled  on 
the  streams,  they  would  make  conditional  lines — blaze 
across  the  bottom  until  they  would  strike  the  table-lands; 
and  the  next  men  who  might  come  in  and  settle  would 
blaze  his  conditional  line  across,  and  for  years  there  was 
but  little  land  entered.  Men  only  sold  their  improvements, 
and  there  was  a  fixed  law,  or  custom,  that  prevailed  among 
them — that  no  man  should  enter  the  land  and  take  another 
man's  improvements  without  paying  him  for  them.  A  few 
such  instances  occurred  to  my  knowledge.  The  man  was 
at  once  waited  upon,  and  informed  of  the  rules  and  cus 
toms  of  the  country;  and  besides  the  rules  and  customs,  it 
was  not  right  nor  honest  to  take  a  man's  labor  without 
paying  him  for  it;  and  that  it  was  the  intention  and  pur 
pose  of  the  people  to  see  that  justice  was  done  every  man; 
and  he  was  therefore  notified  to  proceed  to  the  late  owner 
of  the  improvements  and  pay  him  the  value  of  the  improve 
ments;  and  if  they  couldn't  agree  upon  the  value,  sub 
mit  it  to  two  disinterested  neighbors;  and  if  they  couldn't 
agree  let  the  third  man  be  brought  in,  which  finding  would 
be  final.  In  every  instance  if  the  man  who  had  made  the 
entry  failed  to  comply  with  the  terms,  he  was  at  once  noti 
fied  that  his  absence  from  the  settlement  and  a  speedy  de 
parture  from  the  country  would  be  satisfactory  to  the  set 
tlement;  and  that  if  he  failed  to  comply,  he  would  have  to 
submit  to  the  punishments  that  would  be  inflicted  upon 
him.  If  the  improvements,  which  were  alwaj7s  reasonable, 
were  paid  for,  the  party  would  move  off,  blaze  out  another 
claim,  and  go  to  work  to  improve  it;  but  if  he  didn't  re 
ceive  pay  for  his  improvements,  he  remained  on  the  land 
and  the  other  fellow's  whereabouts  would  soon  be  un- 


34  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

known;  and  when  the  land  was  sold  for  taxes,  the  man 
owning  the  improvements  would  buy  it  in  by  paying-  the 
amount  of  taxes  and  costs  without  an  opposing  bid. 

When  my  father  first  located  in  this  country,  a  large 
portion  of  the  territory  had  never  been  sectionized.  What 
was  known  as  the  old  survey,  including  range  seven  and  a 
part  of  range  eight  (now  in  this  county)  formed  a  part  of 
the  old  survey.  Congress  passed  a  law  graduating  the 
price  of  land  according  to  the  length  of  time  it  had  been 
upon  the  market.  The  government  price  was  $1.25  per 
acre.  The  first  reduction  was  twenty -five  cents  upon  the 
acre;  then  they  reduced  the  purchase  price  every  fewr 
years  until  all  the  land  included  in  the  old  survey  went 
down  to  a  bit  an  acre.  The  graduation  law  allowed  each 
man  to  take  up  320  acres  by  making  actual  settlement  and 
cultivating  it.  But  the  land  speculators  took  advantage  of 
the  law  and  hired  men  to  go  upon  the  land  and  make  a  few 
brush -heaps,  and  in  the  name  of  some  man  apply  for  the 
entry,  until  all  of  the  graduated  lands  were  taken  up,  and 
there  was  not  a  bone  fide  settler  who  had  complied  with 
the  law  in  one  out  of  eveiy  hundred. 

Most  of  the  land  in  Howell,  Gunters,  Peace,  and 
Hutton  valleys,  and  the  land  where  West  Plains  is  now 
situated,  were  entered  at  a  bit  per  acre.  After  the  entries, 
the  valley  lands  commenced  settling  rapidly.  When  the 
time  came  to  procure  a  patent  to  the  land,  speculators  went 
to  Washington  and  engineered  a  bill  through  Congress  to 
allow  the  parties  to  prove  up  without  making  proof  of  act 
ual  settlement,  and  in  that  way  fraudulently  obtained  pat 
ents  to  two -thirds  of  all  the  land  ^above  referred  to.  The 
next  thing,  the  speculators  went  East,  sold  their  lands  (or 
mortgaged  them)  by  representing  that  all  of  the  table  lands 
were  bottom  lands  and  covered  with  walnut,  hackberry, 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  35 

box  elder,  and  other  bottom  growths.  They  let  the  mort 
gages  all  be  foreclosed. 

The  merchants,  who  procured  title  to  the  lands,  sent 
out  agents  to  examine  the  land,  who  went  back  and  report 
ed  that  the  lands  wrere  valueless  and  were  not  worth  the  tax 
es  and  refused  to  pa}7  taxes  on  them.  With  some  few  ex 
ceptions  the  lands  were  offered  time  and  again  for  taxes, 
would  not  sell  for  the  amount  of  the  taxes  and  thousands 
of  acres  remained  in  that  condition  until  a  short  time  be 
fore  the  building  of  the  Kansas  City  &  Memphis  railroad. 
All  of  the  table  lands  were  looked  upon  by  the  people  as 
being  entirely  worthless  and  fit  for  nothing  but  range. 

My  father  in  the  year  1849  sold  out  and  removed  from 
Bennett's  river, Fulton  count}-,  to  the  North  Fork  of  White 
river,  in  Fulton  County  but  two  miles  from  the  State  line, 
dividing  Missouri  and  Arkansas.  In  the  year  1852  father 
took  the  winter  fever,  died  and  was  buried  in  the  ceme 
tery,  three  miles  above  the  State  line,  known  as  the  Tever- 
bauch  cemetery. 

In  the  j'ear  1854  my  mother  and  one  brother  died  with 
the  bloody  flux,  leaving  three  sons  of  the  family,  William, 
the  oldest  one  living,  F.  M.  and  James  I.  Monks.  The 
author  was  married  on  the  10th  day  of  April  1853  to  Mar 
tha  A.  Rice,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Nancy  Rice.  He 
continued  to  reside  upon  the  old  homestead  and  was  a  far 
mer  by  occupation.  The  country  commenced  settling  up 
rapidly.  All  the  land  on  the  streams  was  settled,  with  very 
few  exceptions,  with  a  frugal  and  intelligent  class  of  peo 
ple,  mostly  from  the  middle  states.  In  the  year  1856  How- 
ell  county  was  created  by  taking  a  part  of  the  territory  of 
Ozark  and  a  part  of  the  territory  of  Oregon,  to-wit:  Ran 
ges  7  and  8  arc!  a  small  part  of  9  were  taken  from  Oregon 
county  and  the  remainder  of  9  and  10  was  taken  from 
Ozark  county.  Andrew  V.  Taber,—  —Johnson  (and  the 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

name  of  the  other  commissioner  we  have  forgotten  at  the 
present  time)  proceeded  to  locate  the  county  seat  and  pur 
chased  40  acres  near  the  West  Plains  spring  and  laid  it  out 
into  lots,  got  the  county  seat  near  the  center,  as  a  suffi 
cient  amount  of  water  was  necessary, taking  into  considera 
tion  the  town  spring  and  then  what  was  known  as  theBingi- 
man  spring.  The  lots  sold  rapidly  and  the  town  grew  be 
yond  any  expectation  and  the  country  was  improving  and 
settling  up  with  the  town. 

In  1858  the  author  sold  out  on  the  North  Fork  of 
White  river  and  moved  into  Howell  county  and  located  11 
miles  southwest  of  West  Plains  upon  sections  2  and  11, 
range  9,  wras  appointed  constable  of  Benton  township  and 
in  the  year  1860  was  elected  constable  of  Benton  township, 
commenced  reading  law  in  the  year  1858.  In  the  year 
1860  West  Plains  was  said  to  be  the  best,  neatest,  prettiest 
town  in  South  Missouri  and  contained  about  200  inhab 
itants;  had  a  neat  frame  court  house  in  the  center 
of  the  square,  a  first-class  hewed  log  jail,  had  four  first- 
class  stores  (for  the  country  at  that  time)  which  kept  con 
tinually  on- hand  a  general  assortment  of  merchandise,  had 
two  saloons,  tan  yard  and  the  county  was  out  of  debt,  with 
money  in  the  treasury;  a  county  warrant  then  was  good  for 
its  face  value  in  gold,  and  the  country  was  prosperous  in 
every  respect.  The  people  generally  were  fast  friends  and 
their  chief  interest  was  to  develop  the  resources  of  the 
country  and  aid  and  help  each  other. 

How  a  Mob  Was  Prevented 

In  1860,  a  man  resided  about  three  miles  below  West 
Plains  by  the  name  of  Collins  Coffey  on  the  farm  recently 
owned  by  Thomas  Bolin  and  some  men  by  the  name  of 
Griffiths  and  Boles — (some  of  them  resided  in  West  Plains 
and  some  of  them  resided  in  Thomasville,  Oregon  county) 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  37 

and  they  and  Coffey  had  a  falling  out  with  each  other  and 
the  enmity  between  them  became  very  great.  So  the  Grif 
fiths,  who  lived  at  West  Plains  went  down  to  Thomasville 
and  they  and  the  Boles  with  a  few  other  friends  declared 
that  they  would  come  up  to  Coffey 's  and  mob  him. 

The}-  went  to  work  and  made  for  themselves  a  uniform, 
procured  a  bugle,  fife  and  snare  drum,  procured  a  hack, 
made  them  a  place  for  a  candle  and  aimed  to  come  up  in 
the  night. 

Coffey  owned  considerable  stock  among  which  was  a 
bull  about  four  years  old.  The  range  then  was  luxuriant 
and  there  was  a  pond  near  the  side  of  the  road  that  led 
from  Thomasville  and  West  Plains  and  the  bull  with  other 
cattle  had  lain  down  on  the  edge  of  the  road  about  one 
mile  from  Coffey 's  residence.  They  armed  themselves, 
procured  their  musicians,  got  into  their  hack,  drawn  by 
two  horses  and  started  off  to  the  scene  of  action  with  a 
bright  light,  with  a  flag  flyi'ig  ail  the  music  play 
ing.  When  they  reached  the  place  near  where  the  male 
was  laying,  he  rose  to  his  feet,  squared  himself  and  fetch 
ed  a  keen  bellow7  as  though  (although  he  was  animal)  he 
might  have  some  information  as  to  their  mission.  They 
paid  no  attention  to  the  action  of  the  bull  and  on  their  driv 
ing  witlr'n  about  ten  feet  of  him  he  made  a  desperate  lunge 
forward  ;  they  supposed  that  he  intended  to  gore  the  horses, 
but  missed  his  aim,  struck  the  hack  near  the  coupling,  broke 
the  coupling  pole  and  turned  head  over  heels,  and  fell 
right  between  tbe  liDrses.  The  horses  became  frightened, 
made  a  desperate  lunge  to  extricate  themselves,  and  the 
bull  at  the  same  time  'was  scuffling  to  extricate  himself. 
Both  horses  fell,  the  bull  and  horses  were  all  piled  into  a 
heap,  grunting  and  scuffling.  The  occupants  of  the  hack 
were  all  piled  out  in  a  heap,  almost  in  an  instant,  and  be 
fore  they  could  extricate  themselves  and  get  onto  their  feet 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    .MISSOURI 

the  bull  had  gotten  up  and  was  moving  in  the  direction  of 
his  master's  house  bellowing  every  step  as  if  to  sa}T,  "I 
dare  you  to  come  any  further/'  As  soon  as  the  posse  got 
to  their  feet,  having  prepared,  before  they  started,  with 
plenty  of  whiskey,  and  being  pretty  well  filled  at  the  time 
of  the  occurence,  Boles  got  to  his  feet,  drew  his  pistol, 
cocked  it  and  swore  he  could  whip  any  bull  he  ever  saw, 
especially  a  one  horned  Coffey  bull. 

The  hack  was  almost  demolished  and  the  occupants 
considerably  bruised,  both  horses  crippled,  and  after  con 
sultation,  they  concluded  that  as  the  Coffey  bull  had  proved 
so  successful  they  had  better  abandon  their  trip  and  retreat 
"in  good  order "  to  Thomasville,  leaving  their  horses 
hitched  by  the  roadside  and  the  shattered  hack  piled  up  at 
one  side  of  the  road. 

The  next  morning  they  sent  out  a  team  and  brought 
the  horses  and  hack  back  to  Thomasville,  and  they  were 
wiser  and  perhaps  better  men,  as  they  never  ^again  attempt 
ed  to  mob  Coffey. 

The  strange  feature  about  this  matter  is  that  the  bull 
was  never  known  to  be  cross  before  this  occasion,  when 
his  master  was  to  be  mobbed. 

The  society  of  the  country  had  increased  with  the 
population,  and  school  houses  and  churches  were  erected 
all  over  the  country,  nice  farms  were  opened  up,  the  dwel 
lings  changed  from  round  log  to  hewed  log  and  frame,  the 
people  all  manifested  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  schools  and 
churches  and  the  general  development  of  the  country. 

Religion  and  Politics. 

The  prominent  religious  denominations  from  1849  to 
1860  consisted  chiefly  of  Methodists,  Baptists  and  the 
Christian  order ;  but  all  appeared  to  recognize  each  other 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  39 

as  Christians  and  would  very  often  work  together,  as  they 
had  in  the  early  pioneer  days. 

Everything  had  the  appearance  of  pointing  to  the  day 
when  Hovvell  county  would  become  the  garden  spot  of 
South  Missouri. 

Politically,  the  country  was  largely  Democratic.  In 
political  campaigns  the  Whig  and  Democratic  candi 
dates  would  canvass  the  country  together,  and  while  on  the 
stump  speaking  they  would  assail  each  other's  platforms  in 
most  bitter  terms.  After  the  speaking  was  over  they  would 
go  to  the  same  hotel  or  boarding  place  and  laugh  and  talk 
together  as  though  they  belonged  to  the  same  political  par 
ty,  and  after  the  election  was  over  the  successful  party 
would  be  recognized  by  the  people  as  the  officers  of  the 
whole  people.  You  would  see  no  partisan  line  drawn  by 
the  different  courts  between  political  parties,  but  the  ap 
pointments  of  all  local  officers  were  made  according  to  the 
qualifications  of  the  man  and  not  as  to  what  part}7  he  be 
longed.  The  author,  having  been  born  and  raised  by 
Democratic  parents,  was  a  Democrat  and  acted  with  the 
Democratic  party,  his  first  vote  for  president  having  been 
cast  for  James  Buchanan.  In  I860  a  great  political  ques 
tion  of  the  nation  began  to  be  agitated  and  a  very  bitter 
feeling  was  manifested  from  the  stump  between  the  Repub 
lican  and  Democratic  parties. 

After  the  Democratic  party  divided  and  the  bolters 
nominated  Breckenridge  for  president,  the  author  took  part 
in  the  canvas  and  was  a  strong  advocate  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  the  regular  nominee  of  the  Democratic  party,  and 
at  the  election  cast  his  vote  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for 
president. 


40  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 


MISSOURI  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 


Abraham  Lincoln  was  elected  President  of  the  United 
States.  Soon  after  the  election  they  began  to  discuss  the 
question  of  seceding  from  the  Government.  The  author 
again  took  the  field  in  opposition  to  secession,  and  delivered 
a  number  of  speeches. 

In  a  short  time  the  people  that  had  been  the  closest  of 
friends  and  trusted  a  neighbor  with  the  most  sacred  thing 
they  possessed  became  bitter  enemies  and  arrayed  them 
selves  against  one  another  and  as  the  discussion  of  the  great 
question  of  war  continued  to  grow  more  bitter  the  people 
appeared  to  allign  themselves  for  and  against  secession. 
The  people  soon  grew  so  bitter  that  they  often  talked  of 
fighting  each  other. 

Before  the  firing  on  Ft.  Sumpter  and  after  several  of 
the  states  had  actually  seceded  the  Union  sentiment  pre 
vailed  so  strongly  in  the  state  of  Missouri  that  Clabourn 
Jackson,  the  then  acting  Governor,  was  compelled  to  order 
an  election  in  the  state  of  Missouri  to  settle  the  matter  by  a 
vote,  of  the  people  as  to  whether  Missouri  should  secede  or 
remain  in  the  Union.  The  author  then  took  the  stump  and 
advocated  that  the  state  remain  in  the  Union  and  manifest 
her  loyalty  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  In  this  cam 
paign  the  feeling  of  the  war  grew  more  bitter.  The  result, 
however,  of  the  election  was  that  the  state  remained  in  the 
Union.  In  the  mean  time,  Ft.  Sumpter  had  been  fired  up 
on  by  the  rebels. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  41 

Clabe  Jackson,  the  Governor,  appeared  to  he  deter 
mined  upon  the  state  seceding  either  by  fair  or  foul  means. 
Without  regarding-  a  majority  vote  of  the  people  of  the 
state,  Clabe  Jackson,  the  then  acting  Governor,  issued  his 
proclamation  convening  the  Legislature  in  extra  session  for 
the  purpose  of  passing  ordinances  of  secession. 

At  that  time  Gen.  Frost  was  in  the  command  of  the 
militia  and  some  state  troops  stationed  in  St.  Louis  Barracks 
but  he  was  in  heart  and  sympathy  a  rebel.  Everything  ap 
peared  to  have  been  greased  and  prepared  for  the  occasion. 

As  the  Governor  had  the  whole  machinery  of  the  state 
completely  under  his  control  he  believed  that  it  would  be 
an  easy  matter  for  the  legislature  to  pass  ordinances  of  se 
cession  and  carry  the  state  out  of  the  Union,  but  the  Gov 
ernment  authorities  at  Washington  learned  of  the  critical 
condition  and  deep  laid  scheme  of  the  Governor  to  carry 
the  state  out  of  the  Union  and  at  once  ordered  Capt.  Lyons 
of  the  Regular  Army,  (who  afterward  became  General  of 
the  volunteer  forces  and  fought  the  battle  at  Wilson  Creek, 
Missouri)  to  come  to  St.  Louis;  be,  being  a  captain  in  the 
Regular  Army,  outranked  Gen.  Frost,  took  possession  of 
the  troops,  arms  and  amunitions,  etc.,  reorganized  and  rap 
idly  increased  the  army  by  volunteers. 

On  information  reaching  Gen.  Lyons  that  the  legisla 
ture  had  been  convened  in  extra  session  he  at  once  took  his 
available  troops  and  left  St.  Louis  with  the  intention  of 
surrounding  the  Capitol  and  taking  the  members  of  both 
houses,  the  Governor,  with  all  his  state  officers,  prisoners; 
when  the  Governor  learned  that  the  Government  troops  were 
enroute  for  Jefferson  City  and  their  purpose,  he  ordered  the 
bridge  to  be  burned  across  the  Gasconade  river  near  its 
mouth,  on  what  was  then  known  as  the  North  Pacific  R.  R. 
This  delayed  the  troops  for  several  hours.  On  their  ap 
proach  to  Jefferson  City  the  Governor  and  state  officers  and 


42  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    ."MISSOURI 

the  members  of  both  houses  of  the  legislature  and  all  the 
troops  that  had  been  ordered  to  the  Capital  by  the  Governor 
retreated  to  Boonville,  Missouri. 

I  heard  our  representative  in  a  speech  delivered  a 
short  time  afterwards,  say  they  came  so  near  getting  him 
while  lie  he  was  getting  out  of  Jefferson  City  that  he  lost 
his  umbrella.  Lyons  pursued  them  and  at  Boonville  they 
made  a  stand  and  on  Lyon's  arrival  with  his  troops  he 
attacked  them  and  they  fought  for  a  short  time.  They 
again  retreated,  went  into  the  extreme  west  part  of  the 
state  to  a  place  known  as  Lone  Jack.  There  they  made 
a  stand  again,  Lyons  still  pursuing.  He  again  attacked 
then  at  Lone  Jack  and  after  a  short  fight  they  retreated 
again  into  the  State  of  Arkansas,  and  there  Governor 
Jackson  convened  the  legislature  and  they  passed  ordi 
nances  of  secession  declaring  the  vState  of  .Missouri  out  of 
the  Union  and  that  she  was  attached  to  the  compact  form 
ing  the  Confederate  States. 

General  Lyon  returned  to  St.  Louis,  increasing  his 
force  considerably,  several  regiments  being  attached  to  his 
command  from  other  states.  The  government  ordered  him 
to  prepare  his  troops  and  move  west  to  Springfield. 
The  terminus  of  the  South  Missouri  Pacific  R.  R.,  at 
that  time  was  at  Rolla,  Missouri.  While  Lyon  was  mass 
ing  his  troops  and  preparing  to  march  to  Springfield  the 
most  intense  excitement  prevailed  in  the  entire  State  of 
Missouri. 

A  Big  Confederate  Meeting  at  West  Plains. 

The  Confederate  authorities  at  once  commenced  re 
cruiting  for  the  Confederate  service  and  the  Confederate 
recruiting  officers  published  a  public  meeting  at  West 
Plains  about  the  first  or  tenth  of  July  and  while  the  Con 
federate  authorities  were  moving,  the  union  or  loyal  ele- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  43 

ment  of  the  country  was  not  idle,  but  was  watching;  every 
move,  openly  and  secretly  preparing  for  the  conflict. 

A  few  days  before  the  meeting  was  to  be  held  at  West 
Plains  the  Confederates  sent  to  the  pinery  and  procured 
a  long  pine  pole,  hoisted  it  at  the  corner  of  Durham's  store 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  public  square  and  swung 
to  the  breeze  the  stars  and  bars.  At  the  same  time,  or 
near  the  same  time,  the  Union  men  sent  to  the  pinery 
and  procured  a  pole.  They  hoisted  it  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  East  Main  street  by  the  corner  of  McGinty's 
store  where  the  S.  J.  Langston  Mercantile  Co. ,  building 
now  stands  and  swung  to  the  breeze  the  stars  and  stripes. 

It  was  freely  published  throughout  the  county  by  the 
Rebels  that  if  any  Union  man  attempted  to  open  his  mouth 
on  that  day  he  would  be  shot  as  full  of  holes  as  a  sifter 
bottom.  There  was  a  beautiful  grove  then  growing  just 
east  of  the  branch  on  East  Main  street  running  from  the 
town  spring.  Large  preparations  were  made  by  the  Rebels 
for  the  occasion.  It  was  published  that  there  would  be 
leading  Confederates  from  all  over  the  state  and  different 
other  states  to  speak  on  that  day  and  one  of  the  main 
features  of  the  day  would  be  recruiting  for  Confederate 
service.  A  big  speaker's  stand  was  erected  with  hundreds 
of  seats.  When  the  day  arrived  the  town  was  crowded 
with  people  and  the  friends  of  both  parties  were  armed 
and  appeared  to  be  ready  for  the  conflict.  The  stars  and 
bars  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention,  being  the  first 
flag  that  had  ever  been  seen  by  the  people  that  antagoniz 
ed  the  stars  and  stripes  and  threatened  to  destroy  the 
United  States  Government. 

There  was  soon  a  number  of  determined  men  gathered 
under  each  flag.  A  number  of  their  prominent  speakers 
wrere  on  hand,  among  them  Judge  Price,  of  Springfield, 
known  as  "Wild  Bill"  Price.  They  readily  took  in  the 


44  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

situation  and  saw  that  a  conflict  was  imminent,  and 
as  they  were  not  read y  for  it  they  met  together  in 
council  and  agreed  that  their  men  should  not  bring  on 
the  conflict  on  that  day.  Quite  a  number  of  the  parties 
prepared  themselves  at  the  speaker's  stand.  When  differ 
ent  speakers  were  introduced  to  address  the  people,  many 
of  the  men  would  sit,. either  with  their  guns  in  their  hands 
or  with  their  guns  near  to  them,  and  the  most  firey  and 
extreme  speeches  were  made  that  I  ever  heard. 

The  author  well  remembers  the  speecli  of  Judge  Wil 
liam  Price.  He  told  them  that  the  lopeared  Dutch  had 
reached  Rolla,  Missouri,  the  terminus  of  the  railroad,  and 
that  they  were  complete  heathens ;  that  Abraham  Lincoln 
had  given  the  state  of  Missouri  to  them,  if  they  would  send 
enough  lopeared  Dutch  to  conquer  the  state,  and  that  to 
his  knowledge  they  had  gone  out  into  the  country  and 
taken  men's  wives  and  daughters  and  brought  them  into 
the  camps,  and  that  he  saw  them,  in  the  presence  of  the 
mothers,  run  bayonets  through  their  infant  children  and 
hoist  them  up  and  carry  them  around  on  their  bayonets; 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  had  offered  a  reward  for  all  of  the 
preachers  that  were  in  favor  of  the  South.  He  bursted 
into  tears  and  asked  the  question,  "  I  want  to  know  who 
the  man  is,  and  the  color  of  his  hair,  that  won't  enlist  in 
the  interest  of  his  home,  his  wife,  his  children  and  every  - 
thing  that  is  sacred  and  good,  to  drive  out  lopeared  Dutch, 
a  certain  class  of  Hessians,  from  our  land."  He  urged 
them  to  come  forward  and  place  their  names  upon  the  rolls. 
Nearly  all  the  preachers  present  placed  their  names  on  the 
recruiting  list  first. 

The  excitement  grew  still  more  bitter.  In  the  after 
noon  they  began  to  threaten  openly  that  the  stars  and 
stripes  should  be  hauled  down;  that  no  flag  should  be  al 
lowed  to  float  in  West  Plains  that  countenances  and  toler- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  45 

ates  heathen  in  our  land.  The  Union  men  declared  that 
the  stars  and  stripes  should  not  be  lowered  unless  it  was 
done  over  their  dead  bodies.  Quite  a  number  of  Union 
men  had  assembled  under  the  flag-.  The  Union  men  were 
led  by  a  man  named  Captain  Lyle.  He  had  been  warned 
and  cautioned  by  his  friends  not  to  open  his  mouth,  for  the 
reason  that  he  would  be  shot  full  of  holes.  Late  in  the 
evening  there  was  a  lull  in  the  speaking.  The  author 
walked  up  into  the  speaker's  stand,  called  the  attention  of 
the  people,  saw  a  number  of  rifles  grasped  in  their  hands, 
and  announced  to  them  that  they  had  been  sitting  all  day 
listening  to  Confederate  speeches,  but  on  the  next  Satur 
day,  if  they  would  meet  him  at  Black's  store,  about  ten 
miles  west  of  West  Plains,  they  could  hear  Union  speeches 
and  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  would  be  read ; 
thanked  the  crowd  and  stepped  down.  Quite  a  number  of 
guns  were  raised  in  the  hands  of  parties  and  a  shower  of 
groans  and  hisses,  and  remarks  openly  from  a  number  that 
"We  ought  to  shoot  his  black  heart  out  now." 

It  appeared  for  a  while  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
evade  a  conflict  of  arms.  A  number  of  orders  being  sent 
to  the  Union  men  to  draw  down  their  flag  or  they  would 
fire  on  it  and  the  men  who  supported  it,  an  answer  was  re 
turned  that  the  rebels  were  requested  to  draw  down  their 
flag  as  it  was  a  stranger  in  the  land  and  unless  they  lower 
ed  their  flag  the  stars  and  stripes  wouldn't  be  lowered  an 
inch,  unless  it  was  done  over  their  dead  bodies.  At  last  a 
proposition  came  that  they  would  agree  for  the  sake  of 
averting  bloodshed  to  commence  lowering  both  flags  at  the 
same  time  which  proposition  was  accepted ;  so  wound  up 
that  day's  proceedings. 

On  the  Saturday  following,  the  author,  with  several 
other  Union  speakers,  met  at  Black's  store  where  there 
were  several  rebel  captains  and  lieutenants.  The  author 


46  II I  STORY    OF    SOUTH  ERX    MISSOURI 

made  a  speech  in  favor  of  remaining  in  the  Union  and 
stated  that  the  attempt  to  secede  by  some  of  the  states 
would  eventually  result  in  sad  disaster,  besides  bringing 
untold  suffering  upon  the  people.  Several  other  Union 
speeches  were  made  after  which  the  author  read  the  con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  and  urged  that  all  lovers  of 
republican  form  of  government  would  comply  with  the  de 
mand  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  and,  if  necessary,  sacri 
fice  property  and  life  in  defence  of  the  same ;  so  ended  that 
day's  proceedings. 

McBride  Establishes  Military  Law. 

As  the  organization  of  the  confederates  proceeded  the}- 
still  grew  more  bitter  against  the  Union  men  and  declared, 
by  meeting  and  passing  resolutions,  that  every  Union  man 
should  show  his  colors  in  favor  of  the  South  or  be  hung  as 
high  as  Hamen.  In  the  meantime  the  Union  men  had  se 
cretly  organized  and  met  together,  to  take  into  considera 
tion  as  to  the  time  when  they  should  act. 

The  prevailing  sentiment  was,  that  the}'  should  remain 
dormant  and  let  the  rebels  shed  the  first  blood,  while  the 
minority  thought  the  time  had  come  for  action,  and  that 
they  ought  to  act  before  the  rebels  crippled  them  and  tied 
them  up  in  such  a  manner  that,  when  the  time  did  come, 
they  would  be  entirely  helpless  and  at  their  merc3r. 

McBride,  who  had  been  elected  judge  of  the  18th  Ju 
dicial  circuit,  which  included  Howell  county,  whose  home 
was  in  Texas  county,  was  made  Brigadier  General  of  the 
Confederate  forces  and  commenced  organizing  and  massing 
his  troops.  On  the  arrival  of  the  federal  troops  at  Roll  a, 
Missouri,  he  became  fearful  that  they  would  attack  him, 
rout  him  and  destroy  his  forces,  so  he  concluded  to  inarch 
south  to  West  Plains  and  make  his  headquarters  at  that 
place  until  he  could  organize  his  forces  and  prepare  for 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  47 

marching  west, where  he  intended  to  join  the  forces  of  Gen. 
Sterling  Price  and  Gen.  McCullough  who  then  were  mas 
sing  their  forces  to  march  on  Springfield,  Missouri,  to  at 
tack  the  federal  forces  who  were  then  stationed  at  Spring 
field  under  the  command  of  Gen.  L,yon  and  Gen.  Seigle. 
On  his  arrival  at  West  Plains  he  opened  up  headquarters, 
issued  his  proclamation  that  all  Union  men  or  any  men 
that  were  unfriendly  to  the  Confederate  cause  should  come 
in  and  take  the  oath  and  the  civil  law  was  declared  to  be 
suspended  and  the  military  law  completely  in  force. 

Then  was  when  the  dark  day  and  trouble  began  to 
hang  over  the  Union  people.  As  soon  as  it  was  known 
that  the  civil  law  was  suspended  little  bunches  of  rebels  or 
ganized  all  over  the  country  and  also  in  the  state  of  Arkan 
sas.  In  a  short  time  after  Gen.  McBride's  arrival  in  West 
Plains  a  man  who  was  a  door  neighbor  to  the  author  came 
into  his  field  where  he  was  cutting  wheat,  asked  him  if  he 
had  seen  the  order  of  McBride.  My  answer  was  "No." 
He  remarked,  "Well,  he  has  made  a  general  order,  re 
quiring  all  Union  men,  especially  those  who  have  been 
open  and  active  in  behalf  of  the  Union,  to  come  in  and  take 
the  oath,  and  unless  they  do  the}'  are  going  to  hang  them 
as  high  as  Hamen."  The  author  replied  to  him  that  he 
was  a  Union  man  and  he  knew  it;  he  had  been  open  and 
outspoken  for  the  Union  and  had  voted  for  McBride  when 
he  was  elected  Judge,  but  now  he  thought  he  was  acting 
outside  of  the  law  and  humanity. 

I  had  neither  violated  the  law  of  my  land  nor  harmed 
any  man  and  I  did'nt  consider  that  McBride  had  any  right 
to  order  me  to  take  an  oath  to  take  up  arms  against  my 
country  or  support  those  who  had  taken  up  arms.  If  this 
did  become  a  general  war,  I  thought  they  were  making  a 
blunder,  for  the  Government,  or  the  lopeared  Dutch,  as 
they  termed  them,  would  have  the  advantage  in  the  way  of 


48  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

transporting  forage  and  commissaries  and  aniunitions  of 
war,  while  the  Confederates  would  have  to  rely  mostly  for 
their  resources  upon  the  county ;  that  I  was  a  peace  officer 
and  while  I  was  a  strong  Union  man  was'nt  taking  up  arms 
and  I  thought  that  those  who  wanted  to  fight,  if  there  had 
to  be  a  fight,  should  go  out  into  the  open,  fields,  and  not 
force  the  war  onto  non-combatants,  and  that  the  country 
would  suffer  enough  at  best.  Now  you  know  I  am  a  Un 
ion  man,  and  I  know  that  you  are  in  favor  of  the  Confed 
erate  cause,  and  I  think  this  is  the  course  that  ought  to  be 
pursued  at  the  present  time.  The  Confederates  are  in 
control  of  the  country,  and  they  will  come  around  and  say 
they  mnst  have  forage  for  the  support  of  the  army,  and  ask 
you  if  you  know  of  any  Union  men;  you  could  tell  them, 
"My  neighbor  right  here  is  a  Union  man,  but  he  is  not 
disposed  to  take  up  arms  and  go  into  the  fight;  take  as  lit 
tle  from  him  as  you  can  possibly  do  with,  and  as  little  from 
myself;  in  return,  if  this  war  goes  on,  and  the  Federal  au 
thorities  extend  their  jurisdiction,  they  would  be  out  hunt 
ing  rebels  for  the  purpose  of  getting  forage  and  commissa 
ries,  and  I  could  say  to  them  that  my  neighbor  here  is  a 
rebel  but  take  just  as  little  as  possible  from  him,  and  as 
little  as  possible  from  me,  as  we  are  going  to  have  a  hard 
time  to  get  through  the  war  any  way.  B-ut  if  you  pur 
sue  the  policy  you  say  has  been  adopted  by  the  Confeder 
ates,  you  will  force  all  non-combatants  into  arms  or  drive 
them  from  the  country  and  completely  depopulate  it."  He 
burst  into  a  big  laugh  and  remarked,  "Your  promises  are 
like  a  broken  stick,  you  will  never  see  the  lopeared  Dutch 
in  this  country."  I  said  to  him,  "My  friend,  if  this  war 
goes  on,  before  the  end  of  it  you  will  see  what  you  call 
lopeared  Dutch  as  thick  as  blackbirds;"  and  we  separated. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  49 

General  Lyons  Drives  Rebels  from  Rolla. 

About  June  10,  1851,  the  rebels  were  having  a  big 
meeting  at  Rolla,  Phelps  county,  Missouri,  for  the  purpose 
of  recruiting.  General  Lyons  at  St.  Louis,  learned  of  the 
meeting,  and  at  once  placed  quite  a  force  in  the  cars, 
well  armed  and  closed  them  up  so  they  would  not  be  de 
tected  and  started  for  Rolla  with  the  intention  of  capturing 
the  whole  outfit. 

On  the  day  set  for  the  rebel  meeting,  quite  a  number 
of  them  had  assembled  and  a  certain  young  lawyer  was 
delivering  an  address,  telling  them  that  one  southern  man 
could  whip  five  lopeared  Dutch  and  all  they  wanted  was 
just  an  opportunity;  in  the  meantime  Lyon's  forces  had 
reached  Dillon,  the  next  station  east  of  Rolla  about  five 
miles  distant.  There  the  forces  were  taken  from  the  cars 
and  divided,  some  marching  southwest  and  the  others 
northwest,  making  a  flank  movement  for  the  purpose  of 
surrounding  the  whole  place.  While  they  were  march 
ing  some  person,  who  was  a  rebel,  went  with  all  the  speed 
possible  and  informed  the  meeting  that  the  Dutch  were 
right  upon  them;  that  the  woods  were  full,  of  them  and  to 
get  out  of  there  as  quick  as  possible,  if  they  wanted  to 
save  the:r  lives. 

The  lawyer  who  was  addressing  them  sprang  from  the 
speakers  stand  and  holloing  at  the  top  of  his  voice  as  he 
went,  "Get  away  from  here,  the  Dutch  are  upon  us."  It 
was  said  that  the  lawyer  ran  so  fast  that  if  a  glass  of  water 
had  been  sat  upon  his  coat  tail  it  would  not  have  spilled. 
They  scattered  to  the  woods  in  all  directions.  The  Ped 
al  force  came  in ;  but  their  birds  had  all  flown  and  left  the 
citizens  who  had  remained  to  tell  the  sad  tale. 

The  rebel  forces  at  once  retreated  to  Salem,  Missouri, 
where  they  again  concentrated  their  force.  The  Federal 
scout,  in  a  few  days  followed  them  to  Salem,  and  there 


50  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

again  routed  them  and  they  retreated  directly  to  West 
Plains,  joining  the  command  of  McBride  at  that  place. 
The  rebels,  hurriedly,  concentrated  their  forces  from  all 
the  south  and  southeastern  counties  of  Missouri  and  from 
the  northern  counties  of  Arkansas. 

General  McBride  made  an  order  to  gather  all  the  arms, 
amunitions,  and  horses  that  were  fit  for  the  service,  as 
speedily  as  possible  and  the  report  was  put  in  circulation 
that  he  had  given  the  county  over  to  the  leading  rebels, 
who  resided  in  it,  whose  action,  whatever  they  did  touch 
ing  the  Union  men,  would  be  indorsed  and  carried  out  by 
General  McBride.  The  leading  rebels  of  the  county  at 
once  sent  out  word  that  they  were  going  to  take  all  the 
arms,  amunition  and  available  horses  from  the  Union  men 
and  that  McBride  required  each  and  every  one  of  them  to 
report  and  take  the  oath  at  once,  and  if  they  failed  to  coni- 
pl}r  with  said  order,  speedy  action  would  be  taken  against 
them. 

They  would  either  be  arrested,  imprisoned  or  forced 
into  the  Confederate  army  to  fight  and  their  leaders  would 
be  hung. 

On  the  issuing  of  the  said  order  the  wildest  excitement 
prevailed  among  the  Union  men.  They  immediately  met 
for  the  purpose  of  consultation  as  to  what  their  final  action 
would  be.  There  were  divers  opinions  among  them ;  some 
of  them  were  for  acting  at  once;  others  (and  a  majority  of 
them)  were  in  favor  of  waiting  until  the  rebels  shed  the 
first  blood.  Those  who  refused  to  report  and  take  the  oath 
had  to  place  themselves  in  hiding  at  once.  The  rebels 
made  a  general  move  to  raid,  harass  and  capture  the  Union 
men.  Then  real  danger  confronted  a  man  who  claimed  to 
be  a  Union  man.  The  rebels  had  made  a  general  amnesty, 
upon  the  condition  that  they  would  join  the  Confederate 
army  and  become  loyal  to  the  Confederate  States.  About 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  51 

two -thirds  of  the  men  who  had  been  open  and  avowed 
Union  men  saw  the  danger  that  confronted  them,  and 
joined  the  Confederate  army  and  claimed  that  they  would 
be  loyal  to  its  cause.  The  remainder  of  the  Union  men 
were  disarmed  at  once,  except  those  who  kept  themselves 
concealed  in  the  mountains  and  hills. 

After  they  had  completely  disarmed  them  and  forced 
many  of  them  to  join  the  Confederate  service,  had  taken 
most  of  their  horses,  cattle  and  hogs  for  the  use  of  the 
army,  the  leading  rebels  in  the  county  claimed  that  they 
had  organized  for  the  purpose  of  ridding  the  country  of  all 
Union  men  who  had  refused  to  join  the  Confederate  forces ; 
that  when  McBride  moved  west  he  was  going  to  leave  the 
whole  matter  in  their  hands,  and  they  intended  to  string  up 
the  Union  men  to  limbs  and  shoot  them,  so  they  would 
soon  be  rid  of  the  class  of  men  who  were  friends  of  the 
lopeared  Dutch  and  were  nigger  lovers. 

The  Testing  of  Loyal  Hearts. 

Small  bunches  of  rebel  troops  came  in  from  Arkansas 
and  joined  the  bands  that  were  raiding  the  country,  and 
the  Union  men  were  hunted  like  wild  beasts.  Then  set  in 
the  darkest  day  that  ever  any  class  of  patriots,  true  to  their 
government,  had  to  confront. 

The  author  remembers  well  when  the  Union  men 
would  meet  together,  that  they  took  the  proposition  made 
by  McBride  into  consideration,  and  it  was  discussed  pro 
and  con.  Some  men  would  say,  "While  I  am  a  Union 
man  and  for  the  government,  all  that  I  have  in  the  world 
is  here  in  Howell  county;  my  little  home,  my  property 
and,  above  all,  my  wife  and  children.  They  have  prom 
ised  us  protection  provided  we  will  join  the  rebel  army. 
Had  we  not  better  accept  the  proposition  and  wait  for  re 
sults?"  Others  would  arise,  with  tears  dripping  from  their 


52  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

eyes,  and  remark  that  this  state  of  affairs  is  hard  indeed. 
"Can  I  afford  to  abandon  my  wife  and  children  that  I  love 
so  well  and  leave  them  unprotected  in  the  midst  of  an  open 
state  of  war,  at  the  mercy  of  a  mad  and  distracted  people, 
who  are  thirsting  for  the  loyal  blood  of  the  nation,  and  be 
alienated  from  them,  perhaps,  never  more  to  see  them  ?  " 
Others  would  arise  and  remark  that  "We  have  seen  this 
danger  coming  for  months  and  we  are  satisfied  that  the 
worst  has  not  come,  and  I  know  that  I  love  my  wife,  my 
family,  my  little  children,  as  I  love  my  own  heart;  I  love 
to  meet  them  around  my  fireside  and  enjoy  their  sweet 
company,  and  I  have  delighted  in  laboring  to  furnish  them 
food  and  raiment  and  shelter  while  they  were  growing  into 
manhood  and  womanhood,  but  I  have  read  and  heard  read 
that  my  highest  duty  was  to  God  and  my  second  duty  wras 
to  my  country;  and  the  organic  law  of  the  nation  requires 
at  my  hands  that  whenever  it  becomes  necessary  to  pre 
serve  my  government,  that  I  owe  to  it  my  life,  my  honor 
and  the  welfare  of  my  family ;  and  the  trying  ordeal  is  now 
at  hand  and  I  don't  know  what  the  final  result  will  be — if  I 
am  forced  away  from  my  family,  I  know  they  will  be  left 
at  the  mercy  of  an  intolerant  and  unrelenting  enemy,  but 
I  now  and  here  lay  my  life,  my  family,  my  property  and 
my  future  happiness  upon  the  altar  of  my  country,  and  let 
come  what  will,  weal  or  woe,  I  intend,  with  all  my  feeble 
effort,  to  defend  the  stars  and  stripes,  and  stand  up  openly 
and  courageously  in  defense  of  and  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Union."  That  proposition  prevailed  and  was  unani 
mously  adopted  by  the  Union  men. 

At  this  time  there  was  no  government  aid  in  reach  of 
these  loyal  hearts,  that  were  controlled  by  nothing  but  love 
of  country.  Uncle  Sam  could  do  nothing  for  them.  They 
were  completely  surrounded  in  an  enemy's  country,  and 
while  they  (the  men),  with  what  arms  they  had  preserved, 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  53 

could  by  strategy  evade  the  arrest  and  slaughter  of  them 
selves,  their  families  were  completely  at  the  mercy  of  a  mad 
and  howling  mob,  thirsting  for  the  blood  of  Union  men. 

While  the  loyal  men  in  the  North  were  enlisting  in  the 
interest  of  their  country,  Uncle  Sam  paid  them  $13.00  per 
month,  clothed  them,  and  their  families  were  left  in  the 
care  of  friends;  they  knew  nothing  about  the  war,  except 
what  they  read ;  but  not  so  with  the  Union  men  who  were 
surrounded  in  an  enemy's  country.  They,  without  a  sin 
gle  word  of  protection  or  comfort  from  the  government  for 
themselves  or  their  families,  but  their  love  and  devotion  to 
their  country  led  them  to  furnish  themselves,  to  leave  their 
families  as  best  the}7  could,  at  the  mere}7  of  a  howling  mob, 
for  the  defense  of  their  country. 

Rebels  Defeated  in  Douglas  County. 

The  loyal  men  in  Douglas  county  and  the  north  part 
of  the  county  of  Ozark  \vere  in  the  ascendency.  A  rebel 
force  organized  from  the  county  of  Howell,  Missouri,  arid 
Fulton  county,  Arkansas,  wanting  to  have  some  fun  hunt 
ing  Union  men,  learned  that  on  Bryant's  Fork  on  the  north 
fork  of  White  river  in  Ozark  county  there  wras  a  bunch  of 
Union  men.  So  they  armed  and  equipped  themselves, 
furnished  themselves  ropes,  and  marched  to  hunt  the  place 
these  men  were  said  to  be.  The  Union  men  hearing  of 
their  intention  hurriedly  prepared  a  temporary  barricade 
around  the  house,  and  about  sixty  of  them  gathered  to 
gether  with  their  squirrel  rifles  in  readiness  to  repel  the  at 
tack  in  case  it  was  made.  The  rebel  scout  consisted  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men. 

Early  in  the  morning  reliable  information  reached  the 
Union  men  that  the  rebel  forces  were  well  under  way  and 
would  reach  them  some  time  in  the  afternoon.  One  of  the 
Union  men,  who  had  always  borne  the  reputation  of  being 


54  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

a  brave  man  and  would  fight  anything,  became  impatient 
as  the  time  drew  near  that  they  were  to  be  attacked.  He 
had  been  a  great  hunter  and  was  considered  a  first-class 
shot,  and  he  remarked  to  the  Union  men,  "I  can't  wait  for 
the  rebels  to  attack  us,  I  want  to  get  a  shot  at  one  so  bad 
with  Old  Betsy  (his  gun).  I  know  of  a  bald  knob,  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  here,  where  the  rebel  force  is 
bound  to  pass.  I  am  going  there;  place  yourselves  in 
waiting,  and  when  you  hear  'Old  Betsey'  belch,  you  may 
know  there  is  one  dead  rebel,  and  be  certain  that  they  are 
coming."  In  about  an  hour  after  the  man  referred  to  had 
left,  the  rebel  advance  came  in  sight,  but  they  never  heard 
"Old  Betsy"  belch.  They  vigorously  attacked  the  Union 
men  inside  their  fortifications,  and  after  fighting  for  about 
an  hour,  they  retreated,  leaving  one  man  dead  upon  the 
field  and  one  wounded.  The  Union  men  received  no  in 
jury  whatever.  They  became  very  uneasy  in  regard  to 
their  friend  and  ''Old  Betsy,"  supposing  he  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy  and  they  had  used  the  rope  on 
him.  Search  was  made  all  along  the  line  of  march  of  the 
rebels  for  the  missing  man,  but  no  information  could  be 
learned  of  his  whereabouts.  However,  in  about  one  week, 
news  came  from  Douglas  county  that  their  friend  and  "Old 
Betsy"  arrived  safely  at  another  rendezvous  of  Union  men 
in  Douglas  county,  about  forty  miles  distant,  and  reported 
that  the  Union  men  had  had  a  fight  with  the  rebels,  and 
they  were  all  captured  or  killed,  with  the  exception  of  him 
self,  and  he  had  made  his  escape  after  the  fight. 

Just  before  McBride  broke  camps  to  march  west  to 
join  Gen.  Price  and  Gen.  McCullough,  he  made  a  general 
order  that  they  arrest  and  seize  ever}7  Union  man  possible, 
and  after  he  left  the  country,  that  the  committee  who  had 
been  organized  to  take  charge  of  the  count}7,  would  at  once 
exterminate  every  Union  man  who  had  failed  to  take  the 


AND   NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  55 

oath    or  to  join  the    Confederate    army,  giving  them    full 
power  as  to  what  disposition  they  would  make  of  them. 

Rebels  Capture  Col.  MonKs. 

On  the  7th  of  July,  1861,  one  of  my  neighbors  came 
to  me  and  informed  me  that  the  time  had  come  that  every 
Union  man  had  to  show  his  colors  and  unless  they  report 
ed  and  took  the  oath  or  joined  the  Confederate  army,  they 
would  hang  as  high  as  Haman.  While  the  Union  men 
were  on  their  guard  and  watching  their  movements,  once  in 
a  while  they  would  slip  in  home  to  see  how  the  family  was 
getting  along.  My  family  at  that  time  consisted  of  a  wife 
and  four  children,  three  girls  and  one  boy.  My  wife  had 
never  been  accustomed  to  staying  alone  and  I  came  in 
home  late  on  the  evening  of  the  7th,  thinking  that  I  would 
leave  the  next  morning  before  daylight.  Sometime  after 
the  family  had  retired,  not  far  from  11  o'clock  in  the  night, 
I  was  awakened  by  a  rapping  on  the  door.  My  wife,  sus 
pecting  who  the  parties  were,  answered  them,  and  demand 
ed  to  know  what  was  wanted ;  one  of  them,  who  claimed  to 
be  an  orderly  sergeant,  remarked  that  he  wanted  to  know 
if  Monks  was  at  home.  She  replied  that  he  was  not.  A 
man  by  the  name  of  William  Biffle,  whom  the  author  had 
been  acquainted  with  for  years,  replied,  "He  is  here,  I 
know,  for  I  coursed  him  into  this  house  late  yesterday  even 
ing."  The  author  at  once  arose  to  his  feet  and  remarked, 
"I  am  here,  what  is  wanted?"  A  man  by  the  name  of 
Garrett  Weaver,  who  claimed  to  be  an  orderly  sergeant 
and  in  charge  of  the  squad,  also  a  neighbor  to  the  au 
thor  said,  "I  have  been  ordered  by  Gen.  McBride  to  arrest 
you,  bring  you  in  and  make  you  take  the  oath."  I  owned 
at  that  time  a  first -class  rifle  and  there  was  also  another 
rifle  gun  in  the  house.  I  took  my  gun  into  my  hands 
and  my  wife  took  hold  of  the  other  gun.  I  told  them  that 


56  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

a  general  order  had  gone  forth,  so  I  was  informed,  that  they 
wanted  to  hang  all  the  leading  Union  men  and  "if  that  is 
your  intention  I  will  die  before  I  surrender."  Weaver  re 
plied  they  were  not  going  to  hang  me,  but  they  were  just 
going  to  take  me  to  McBride-  to  take  the  oath  and  I  should 
be  protected.  Upon  those  terms  I  agreed  to  surrender, 
made  a  light  in  the  house  and  found  that  the  house  was  stir- 
sounded  by  a  posse  of  twenty -five  rebels.  As  soon  as  the 
light  was  made,  a  part  of  them  rushed  into  the  house,  took 
my  gun  and  jerked  the  one  my  wife  had  in  her  hand  out 
of  her  posession,  almost  throwing  her  tn  the  floor,  began  a 
general  search  of  the  house  for  other  arms  and  such  things 
as  they  said  the  army  needed. 

As  soon  as  I  dressed,  they  ordered  me  to  move.  They 
didn't  even  give  me  time  to  say  good-bye  to  my  wife,  nor 
to  imprint  a  kiss  upon  the  cheeks  of  my  loving  children. 
Closely  surrounding  me,  they  marched  me  about  2 50  yards, 
came  to  their  horses,  where  two  more  of  their  posse  guard 
ed  the  horses,  they  having  dismounted,  to  approach  the 
house  on  foot  so  they  might  not  be  heard. 

"Billy,  You  Ought  Not  to  be  So  Saucy." 

When  within  a  few  feet  of  the  horses  the  author  was 
halted.  It  was  just  starlight.  I  noticed  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Wilburn  Baker,  a  man  with  whom  the  author  had 
been  acquainted  from  a  boy,  go  to  the  horn  of  one  of  the 
saddles,  lift  therefrom  a  coiled  rope  and  move  toward  the 
author.  The  author  quickly  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that 
the  time  had  come  to  enforce  the  order  of  hanging.  Baker 
ordered  the  author  seized  by  the  arms,  drew  them  be 
hind  him  and  securely  tied  him.  The  author  asked,  just 
as  they  had  completed  the  tying,  "What  do  you  mean? 
Are  you  going  to  cage  me?"  Baker  replied,  "Billy,  you 
ought  not  to  be  so  saucy,  for  you  don't  know  the  danger 


58  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

you  are  in."  I  was  at  once  ordered  placed  on  a  horse. 
One  of  the  posse  rode  up  to  my  side  and  placed  the  other 
end  of  the  rope  around  his  body  and  the  posse  moved  west. 
A  short  time  before  daylight  they  arrived  at  the  house  of 
William  Nicks,  who  was  a  rebel  lieutenant.  They  dis 
mounted  and  took  the  author  into  the  house.  There  ap 
peared  to  be  a  general  rejoicing  among  them.  Nicks  said, 
"You  have  got  him,  have  you?  We  had  become  uneasy 
about  you,  and  thought  it  might  have  been  possible  that  he 
had  his  Union  forces  around  him  and  that  you  had  met 
with  disaster;  but  I  feel  satisfied  that  we  have  now  captured 
the  leader  and  the  counselor  of  the  Union  forces  and  the 
remainder  will  be  easily  extinguished."  Gen.  McBride  in 
the  meantime,  being  uneasy  for  fear  the  Federal  troops 
would  attack  him,  had  removed  his  forces  from  West  Plains 
to  the  south  part  of  Howell  county,  camping  at  what  was 
known  as  the  Flag  pond. 

I  was  closely  guarded  until  da3'light.  McBride's  forces 
had  broken  camp  at  the  Flag  pond  on  the  morning 
of  July  8th  and  were  marching  west  with  the  intention  of 
joining  the  forces  of  Gen.  Price  and  Gen.  McCullough,  who 
were  then  moving  in  the  direction  of  Springfield,  Missouri, 
with  the  intention  of  attacking  the  Federal  forces  at  that 
place,  commanded  by  Gen.  Lyon  and  Gen.  Siegel.  Very 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  the  party  started  in  a  south 
west  direction,  with  the  author  closel}7  guarded.  Oh 
coming  near  the  head  of  Bennett's  river,  Fulton  county, 
Arkansas,  the  posse  commenced  cheering  and  remarked : 
"Listen!  Do  you  hear  the  drums  and  the  fife?  That  is 
Gen.  McBride's  command  moving  west  to  kill  them  lop- 
eared  Dutch  that  you  Union  men  have  brought  into  the 
state  of  Missouri.  Do  you  know  what  we  are  going  to 
do  with  such  men  as  you  are?  Those  of  you  that  we  don't 
hang,  the  first  fight  that  we  get  into  with  the  lop-eared 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  59 

Dutch,  we  will  make  breastworks  out  of  to  keep  the 
bullets  off  of  good  men." 

About  one  mile  further  we  came  in  sight  of  the  mov 
ing  column.  We  rode  along  the  line,  when  there  was  gen 
eral  cheering  until  we  reached  a  company  that  was  organ 
ized  in  Oregon  county  and  commanded  by  Capt.  Simpson. 
Simpson  said,  "Why  have  you  brought  a  Union  man  in 
here  alive!  If  my  company  had  possession  of  him,  he 
could  not  live  ten  minutes." 

We  soon  reached  a  company  commanded  by  Capt. 
Forshee  which  was  organized  in  this  county  to  whom  the 
whole  posse  that  made  the  arrest,  belonged.  The  author 
was  wrell  acquainted  with  all  of  them  and  over  half  of  them 
resided  in  the  same  settlement  and  were  his  neighbors. 
On  reaching  the  company  Captain  Forshee  walked  out  of 
the  line  and  remarked  to  them  "Why  have  you  brought 
him  in  here  alive?"  Some  of  the  posse  remarked,  that 
he  had  been  a  neighbor  and  they  had  all  been  friends  up  to 
the  war  and  they  hated  to  kill  him.  Forshee  said  "When 
I  saw  him  at  West  Plains  at  the  speaking  when  he  got  up 
and  contended  that  there  was  a  union  and  the  government 
ought  to  be  preserved,  I  wanted  to  shoot  his  black  heart 
out  of  him  and  I  feel  the  same  way  yet." 

The  author  wras  kept  in  close  confinement  and  on  the 
night  of  the  8th  the  command  went  into  camp  near  what 
is  known  as  the  old  Steve  Thompson  farm.  The  author, 
with  several  other  prisoners,  was  placed  in  the  guard  house 
and  orders  were  given  that  he  be  closely  guarded. 

After  they  had  taken  their  suppers,  men  that  the 
author  had  been  acquainted  with  from  his  boyhood,  and 
men  who  had  been  acquainted  \vith  his  relatives,  came  to 
the  guard  house  in  considerable  numbers  and  remarked, 
"Hello,  Monks?"  "I  never  expected  to  see  you  under 
arrest."  "What  have  you  been  doing  that  they  have  ar- 


60  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

rested  you?  I  thought  you  was  a  good  Democrat."  "Have 
you  left  your  party."  "The  Democratic  part}7  is  in  favor  of 
the  South."  The  author  replied  to  them  that  when  they 
thought  he  was  a  good  Democrat  they  were  right.  But  that 
he  was  not  a  slave  to  party  and  that  he  held  country  higher 
than  party  and  if  Democracy  meant  secession  and  mullifica- 
tion,  that  was  one  part  of  the  principals  of  Democracy  that 
he  had  never  learned;  that  true  Democracy,  as  understood 
by  the  author,  taught  every  man  that  in  case  his  country 
was  invaded  either  externally  or  internally  that  he  owed 
his  honor  and  property  in  the  support  of  it  and  for  those 
reasons  he  was  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  at  all 
ha/ards.  vSome  remarked  that  "We  ought  to  hang  him 
right  now  without  waiting  any  longer"  Others  remarked 
that  "We  have  been  acquainted  with  his  people  both 
on  his  mother's  and  father's  side  and  they  were  all  south 
ern  people  and  Democrats  and  they  are  all  of  them,  al 
most,  in  favor  of  the  South.  It  is  strange  indeed  to  see 
the  course  that  he  has  taken.  The  author  remarked  that 
"There  were  always  some  shabby  sheep  in  a  flock  and  I 
suppose  from  your  reasoning  that  lam  one  of  them." 
They  all  retired,  the  officers  giving  orders  that  the  most 
vigilant  watch  be  kept  over  the  prisoner.  After  he  had 
retired  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Joseph  Teverbaugh 
who  resided  in  Ozark  county,  a  merchant  and  the  owner 
of  about  twenty  negroes,  who  had  been  well  acquainted 
with  the  author  from  his  boyhood,  brought  up  the  conver 
sation  as  to  what  disposition  they  thought  ought  to  be 
made  of  the  author.  The  author  could  easly  hear  all  the 
conversation  inside  of  the  guard  line  Many  opinions  were 
expressed.  Quite  a  number  said,  "Hang  him  outright." 
That  was  the  onl}r  way  to  get  shut  of  the  Union  men,  to 
make  short  work  of  it,  and  forever  rid  the  country  of  that 
element. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  61 

Others  said  that  appeared  to  be  too  harsh,  that  they 
were  in  favor  of  taking  him  to  Little  Rock  ard  confining 
him  in  the  penitentiary  until  the  war  was  over,  for  it  would 
n't  take  but  a  short  time  to  rid  the  country  of  the  lopeared 
Dutch  and  those  who  \vere  friends  to  them.  Others  re 
marked  that  "that  would  be  too  easy  for  a  man  who  was  in 
favor  of  the  lopeared  Dutch;  that  we  are  in  favor  of  taking 
all  like  him  right  into  the  army  and  making  them  fight  and 
if  they  won't  fight,  the  first  engagement  we  get  into,  pile 
them  up  and  make  breastworks  out  of  them,  so  that  they 
will  catch  bullets  off  of  good  men."  At  this  juncture  Tev- 
erbaugh  remarked,  "I  have  been  acquainted  with  Billy  from 
a  boy  and  you  never  can  force  him  to  fight  against  wrhat  he 
believes  to  be  right,"  that  he  was  a  good  boy  and  since  he 
has  grown  up  to  be  a  man  he  has  been  an  honorable  and 
straightforward  man  and  quite  an  active  man  politically  and 
my  advice  would  be  to  confine  him  in  the  State  Penitentiary 
until  the  war  is  over,  for  I  tell  you  now  if  he  ever  gains  his 
liberty  you  are  going  to  have  him  to  fight." 

Sold  as  a  Beef  Cow. 

On  the  morning  of  the  9th  they  broke  camp  and  marched 
near  the  mouth  of  Bennett's  river  and  went  into  camp  at 
what  was  then  known  as  Talbert's  mill.  A  short  time  after 
we  had  been  in  camp  Capt.  Forshee,  who  had  charge  of  the 
prisoners,  came  to  the  guard  house  and  the  author  request 
ed  him  that  he  be  allowed  to  take  the  oath  and  return 
home,  as  his  wife  and  children  were  almost  scared  to  death 
owing  to  the  reports  that  were  currently  circulated  all 
through  the  country,  his  wife  would  believe  they  had  hung 
him.  The  captain  replied  that  they  were  not  going  to  al 
low  him  to  take  the  oath.  They  had  plenty  of  proof  against 
him,  that  he  had  been  communicating  to  the  lopeared  Dutch 
and  as  soon  as  they  had  formed  a  junction  with  Price  and 


62  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

McCullough  he  would  be  tried  as  a  spy.  He  gave  orders 
to  the  guard  to  see  that  he  was  kept  in  close  confinement, 
and  about  11  o'clock  in  the  night  as  near  as  the  author  can 
guess,  it  being  starlight,  the  Captain  came  down  to  the 
guard  house  in  company  with  one  of  his  men,  Frank  Mor 
rison. 

The  author  was  lying  on  the  ground  pretending  to  be 
asleep.  The  Captain  came  inside  of  the  guard,  called  out, 
"Monks,  are  you  asleep?"  The  author  raised  up  in  a  sit 
ting  position  and  said,  "Captain  what  is  wanted"  ?  The 
Captain  remarked,  "I  want  you  to  go  up  to  my  camp  fire," 
which  was  aboot  75  yards  distance  from  the  guard  house. 
The  author  said,  "Captain,  this  is  a  strange  time  of  night  to 
comedown  and  order  me  to  your  camp  fire."  He  said; 
"Not  another  word  out  of  you,  rise  to  your  feet."  He 
ordered  Morrison  to  step  behind  him  with  the  same  gun 
that  he  had  recently  taken  from  the  author  and  cock  it  and 
"if  he  makes  a  crooked  step  from  here  up  to  the  camp  fire 
shoot  him  through."  The  author  heard  Morrison  cock 
the  gun  and  about  half  way  between  the  guard  house  and 
the  camp  fire  the  Captain  remarked  to  the  author,  "Do  you 
know  Kasinger?"  The  author,  suspecting  that  he  was 
going  to  be  delivered  to  a  mob,  said  "I  know  him  very 
well;  we  have  grown  up  together  from  boys."  The  Cap 
tain  said,  "I  thought  he  was  a  mighty  nice  man.  I  have 
sold  you  to  him  for  a  beef  cow."  The  author  remarked 
there  was  but  one  thing  he  was  sorry  for;  that  if  he  had 
known  he  was  going  to  be  delivered  to  a  mob  he  never 
would  have  surrendered  and  had  some  satisfaction  for  his 
life.  The  Captain  said,  "I  thought  I  was  doing  mighty 
well  to  sell  a  black  Republican  or  a  Union  man  for  a  beef 
cow  where  we  have  as  many  good  men  to  feed,  as  we  have 
here." 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  63 

His  camp  fire  was  under  a  gum  tree  with  a  large  top. 
The  fires  had  all  died  down,  it  being  in  July  and  nothing 
but  the  stars  were  giving  the  light.  On  coming  within 
two  or  three  feet  of  the  tree  the  Captain  ordered  the  author 
to  halt.  He  and  Morrison  walked  about  ten  paces 
and  said,  "I  have  brought  you  np  here  to  liberate  you. 
We  have  got  plenty  of  good  men  here  to  feed  without  feed 
ing  men  who  are  friends  to  the  lopeared  Dutch."  The 
author  replied  to  the  Captain  ,"you  may  think  you  are  deal 
ing  with  a  fool.  I  have  neither  violated  the  civil  nor  mili 
tary  law;  have  demanded  a  trial  and  you  refuse  to  give  it 
tome.  You  can't  bring  me  up  here  at  this  time  of  night 
and  pretend  to  turn  me  loose  for  the  purpose  of  escaping  the 
responsibility  of  an  officer  and  deliver  me  into  the  hands 
of  a  mob. " 

The  Confederate  Army  or  Hell. 

The  author  was  satisfied  that  he  could  then  see  a 
bunch  of  men  standing  in  readiness.  The  Captain  replied, 
''Sit  down  or  you  will  be  shot  in  half  a  minute."  The 
author  sat  down  and  leaned  against  the  tree.  He  had  on 
strong  summer  clothing,  wearing  an  alpaca  vest  and  coat. 
In  an  instant,  about  twenty -five  men,  led  by  Kasinger,  and 
a  man  by  the  name  of  William  Sap,  approached  the  author; 
Kasinger,  holding  a  rope  in  his  hand  with  a  noose  in  it, 
walked  up  to  the  author,  held  the  noose  of  the  rope 
above  his  head  and  said,  "Monks,  you  have  half  a  minute 
to  say  you  will  join  the  army  and  fight,  or  go  to  hell,  just 
which  you  please."  The  author  replied  that  it  was  said 
that  "hell  was  a  hot  place,"  but  he  had  never  been  there, 
and  that  he  had  always  been  counted  a  truthful  man  until 
he  had  been  arrested,  and  since  his  arrest  he  had  been 
asked  divers  questions  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  lopeared 
Dutch,  and  that  he  had  told  them  in  every  instance  he 


64  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

knew  nothing  of  them  and  had  been  cursed  for  a  liar.  "If 
I  was  to  say  that  I  would  join  the  army  and  fight,  I  might 
have  a  cowardly  set  of  legs  and  they  might  carry  me  away ; 
and  in  the  next  place,  I  am  a  Union  man,  first,  last  and  all 
the  time.  I  suppose  your  intention  is  to  hang  me,  and 
there  is  only  one  thing  I  am  sorry  for,  and  that  is  that  I 
ever  surrendered ;  but  there  is  one  consolation  left,  when 
you  kill  me  you  won't  kill  them  all,  and  you  will  meet 
plenty  of  them  that  won't  be  disarmed  as  I  am  now." 

Kasinger  replied,  "No  damn  foolishness,  we  mean 
business,"  and  made  an  attempt  to  drop  the  noose  over  my 
head,  which  was  warded  off  with  my  arms. 

At  this  juncture  the  author  appealed  to  the  Captain  for 
protection  from  the  mob,  saying  that  he  was  a  prisoner, 
unarmed  and  helpless,  and  if  he  suffered  him  to  be  mur 
dered  by  a  mob  his  blood  would  be  upon  the  Captain's 
head.  No  reply  being  made  by  the  Captain,  all  cf  the  par 
ties  being  considerably  under  the  influence  of  whiskey,  vSap 
raised  his  left  hand,  pushed  Kasinger  back  and  remarked, 
"I  have  been  shooting  and  wounding  some  of  these  black 
Republicans  who  are  friends  of  the  lopeared  Dutch,  but  I 
intend  to  shoot  the  balance  of  them  dead."  At  the  same 
time  he  drew  a  pistol  from  his  right-hand  pocket,  cocked 
it,  stooped  over,  ran  his  fingers  under  the  author's  cloth 
ing,  gave  them  a  twist  and  commenced  punching  him  around 
the  chest  with  the  muzzle  of  the  revolver,  and  after,  as  the 
author  thought,  he  had  punched  him  some  fifty  or  sixty 
times  with  the  revolver,  the  author  said  to  him,  "William 
Sap,  there  is  no  question  but  that  your  intentions  are  to 
kill  me,  and  you  want  to  torture  me  to  death.  You  know 
that  if  I  was  armed  and  on  equal  footing  with  you,  you 
would  not  do  this."  He  made  a  quick  jerk  with  his  left 
hand,  intending  to  jerk  the  author  upon  his  face,  remark 
ing  to  the  Captain  at  the  same  time,  "Captain,  you  prom- 


66  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

ised  him  to  us  and  we  are  going  to  take  him."  The  auth 
or,  with  all  force  possible,  leant  against  the  tree,  Sap's 
hold  broke  loose,  tearing  off  all  the  buttons  that  were  011 
the  vest  and  coat. 

The  author  again  appealed  to  the  Captain  for  protec 
tion  from  the  mob.  The  Captain  then  remarked  to  Sap , 
"Hold  on  for  a  moment,  I  wrill  take  a  vote  of  my  company 
as  to  whether  we  will  hang  him  or  not."  The  company  at 
that  time  was  lying  on  the  ground,  most  of  them  appar 
ently  asleep.  The  Captain  called  out  aloud  to  his  com 
pany,  "Gentlemen,  I  am  going  now  to  take  a  vote  of  my 
company  as  to  whether  we  will  hang  Monks  or  not.  All 
in  favor  of  it  vote,  aye;  all  opposed,  no."  He  then  took 
the  affirmative  vote  and  the  negative  vote.  They  appear 
ed,  to  the  author,  to  be  almost  evenly  divided.  Sap  again 
remarked  to  the  Captain  "You  promised  him  to  us,  we 
have  bought  him  and  paid  for  him  and  he  is  ours." 

The  author  again  appealed  to  the  Captain  for  pro 
tection.  The  Captain  replied  to  Sap,  "He  claims  pro 
tection  and  as  I  am  an  officer  and  he  a  prisoner  I  reckon 
we  had  better  keep  him  until  we  reach  McCullough  and 
Price  and  then  we  will  try  him  for  a  spy  and  there  is  plen 
ty  of  evidence  against  him  to  prove  that  he  has  been 
writing  to  the  lop-eared  Dutch  and  after  he  is  conv:cted 
will  turn  him  over  and  you  men  can  take  charge  of  him." 
At  this  juncture  a  brother  in -law  of  the  Captain  said, 
"Captain,  I  have  one  request  to  make  of  you.  I  want 
you  to  take  Monks  in  the  morning  and  tie  him  hard  and 
fast,  with  his  face  to  a'tree,  and  let  me  shoot  with  a  rest 
sixty  yards  and  show  you  how  I  can  spoil  a  black  Repub 
lican's  pate."  The  Captain  replied,  "As  soon  as  he  is 
convicted  you  can  have  the  gratification  of  shooting  him 
just  as  often  as  you  please." 


AND   NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  67 

The  Captain  and  Morrison  again  took  charge  of  the 
author,  carried  him  back  and  delivered  him  to  the  guard 
with  instructions  to  the  guard  to  be  diligent  in  keep  - 
ing  him  closely  confined  so  that  he  would  have  no  pos 
sible  chance  of  escape.  On  the  morning  of  the  10th  we 
broke  camp  and  went  into  camp  that  night  just  beyond 
where  Mountain  Home  now  stands.  Dr.  Kmmons,  of  West 
Plains,  who  was  a  strong  Union  man  and  who  afterwards 
became  captain  in  the  6th  Missouri  Cavalry,  attempted  to 
go  through  to  the  Federal  forces  but  was  pursued  by  the 
rebels,  captured  somewhere  in  Texas  county  and  brought 
back  to  the  camp.  He  was  also  a  prisoner  at  the  same  time ; 
but  being  a  master  mason,  was  paroled  to  the  limits  of  the 
camp  and  on  the  night  of  the  10th  made  his  escape  and 
got  through  to  the  Federal  lines,  enlisted  and  was  made 
captain.  Of  him  we  will  speak  later. 

In  Camp  at  Yellville. 

On  July  11  th  they  broke  camp  and  reached  Yellville, 
Marion  county,  and  on  the  13th  reached  Carrolton,  a  small 
town  in  Arkansas,  and  went  into  camp.  The  author  well 
remembers  the  spring.  It  ran  out  of  the  steep,  rocky  gulch 
and  the  branch  ran  a  little  south  of  west  and  a  beautiful 
grove  of  timber  surrounded  the  spring.  The  prisoners  were 
marched  down  within  a  few  feet  of  the  spring  and  there 
placed  under  guard.  As  usual,  the  abuse  that  had  been 
continually  heaped  upon  the  prisoners  during  the  march  was 
renewed  and  in  a  short  time  a  man  who  was  said  to  be  from 
one  of  the  counties  north  of  Rolla,  Mo.,  commenced  making 
a  speech  and  inciting  and  encouraging  the  soldiers  to  mob 
the  prisoners  at  once;  that  he  had  disguised  himself  and  en 
tered  the  camps  of  the  lop-eared  Dutch  at  Rolla,  and  that  to 
his  own  personal  knowledge  they  had  men's  wives  and 


68  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN   MISSOURI 

daughters  inside  of  their  camps,  committing  all  manner  of 
offenses  possible,  and  that  they  were  heathens;  didn't  re 
semble  American  people  at  all  and  that  he  would  not  guard 
nor  feed  any  man  who  was  a  friend  to  them;  that  they 
ought  to  be  killed  outright. 

The  men  who  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army  from 
Howell  and  adjoining  counties,  before  starting,  went  to  the 
blacksmith  shops  and  had  them  large  butcher  knives 
made ;  made  a  belt  and  scabbard  and  buckled  them  around 
them,  and  said  that  they  were  going  to  scalp  lop-eard  Dutch. 
In  a  short  time  the  tenor  of  the  aboved  mentioned  speech 
had  incited  over  400  men  and  it  had  become  necessary  to 
double  the  guard.  The  grove  of  timber  was  filled  with 
men  and  boys  looking  over,  expecting  to  see  the  prisoners 
mobbed  every  minute.  There  was  a  man  who  drew  his 
pistol,  others  drew  knives  and  made  differerent  attempts 
to  break  lines  and  mob  the  prisoners.  The  man  in  posses 
sion  of  the  pistol  declared  that  he  intended  to  shoot  them. 
He  was  on  an  elevated  place  and  they  called  him  "Red," 
and  there  were  three  or  four  men  holding  him  to  prevent 
his  firing.  The  author  remarked  to  him  that:  "The  time 
will  soon  come  when  you  will  meet  men  who  are  not  dis 
armed.  You  had  better  save  your  bravery  until  you  meet 
them,  and  my  opinion  is  that  you  won't  need  any  man  to 
hold  you  then."  Just  about  this  time  on  the  north  side  of 
the  spring — the  land  dropped  toward  the  spring,  on  a  de 
scent  of  about  45  degrees — the  author  heard  the  voice  of  a 
man  ordering  the  guard  to  "open  the  lines  and  let  these 
ladies  come  in."  The  author  at  once  arose  to  his  feet  and 
spoke  out  in  an  audible  voice  to  the  guard  to  give  away  and 
let  the  ladies  come  in  and  see  a  Northern  monkey  exhibited, 
that  the  monkeys  grew  a  great  deal  larger  in  the  north  than 
they  did  in  the  south.  At  this  juncture  it  appeared  to  take 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  69 

one  more  man  to  hold  Red  who  said  that  ''he  would  kill 
the  saucy  scoundrel  if  it  took  him  a  week  to  do  it." 

When  the  posse  came  in  we  saw  that  the  ladies  were 
accompanied  by  eight  or  ten  Confederate  officers  with 
about  fifteen  ladies.  All  the  ladies  carried  small  Confed 
erate  flags,  the  first  ones  that  the  author  had  ever  seen.  On 
coming  very  close  to  the  prisoners  they  halted  and  one  of 
the  officers  remarked.,  "These  are  the  Union  men  that  are 
friends  to  the  lop-eared  Dutch.  Coulden't  you  tie  the  knot 
upon  them  to  hang  them?"  I  think  almost  everyone  spoke 
out  and  said  "we  could."  After  heaping  other  epithets 
and  abuse  upon  the  prisoners  they  and  the  officers  retired 
outside  of  the  line.  The  speaker  was  still  talking,  urging 
and  insisting  that  the  prisioners  should  be  mobbed  at  once, 
that  they  should  not  be  permitted  to  live. 

At  about  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  a  man's  voice 
was  heard  on  top  of  the  bank  saying,  "Men,  I  believe 
your  intentions  are  to  kill  these  prisoners.  You  have  all 
started  out  to  fight  and  you  don't  know  how  soon  you 
might  be  taken  prisoner  and  you  would  not  like  to  be  treat 
ed  in  any  such  manner;  I  know  Billy,  (referring  to  the 
author)  and  all  you  have  against  him  is  the  political  side 
that  he  has  taken  and  I  order  the  orderly  sergeant  to  double 
the  guard  around  the  prisoners  so  there  wyill  be  no  possible 
chance  for  the  mob  to  get  through,  and  move  with  the 
prisoners  south  to  a  large  hewed  log  house  and  place  the 
prisoners  therein,  and  place  a  guard  around  the  walls  and 
suffer  no  man  to  approach  the  house  without  an  order 
from  the  officers." 

As  the  prisoner  began  to  move,  the  excited  soldiers, 
who  were  wanting  to  mob  them,  brought  out  an  Indian  yell, 
and  it  appeared  to  the  author  he  could  almost  feel  the 
ground  shake.  After  they  were  put  into  the  houses, 
among  the  prisoners  were  some  who  were  deserters. 


70  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

the  author  whispered  to  the  Union  men  and  told  them  to 
lie  down  close  to  them  so  that  they  could  not  distinguish 
from  the  outside  one  from  another.  The  author  was  in 
formed  by  Maj.  William  Kelley,  of  the  Confederate  army, 
who  resides  at  Rolla,  Phelps  county,  Missouri,  at  the  pres 
ent  time,  that  he  was  the  officer  who  made  the  order  to 
remove  the  prisoners  into  the  house  and  place  a  heavy 
guard  around  them  to  prevent  their  being  mobbed.  This 
ended  the  excitement  for  the  evening. 

The  author  had  always  been  a  believer  in  the  reali 
ties  of  religion.  About  one -tenth  of  the  officers  appeared 
to  be  Baptist  and  Methodist  preachers,  and  frequently 
when  they  would  go  into  camp  would  call  a  large  number 
of  the  men  together  and  very  often  take  the  prisoners  and 
place  them  near  by  under  a  heavy  guard,  and  then  con 
vene  religious  services.  They  always  took  for  a  text  some 
subject  in  the  Bible  and  the  author  remembers  well  of  the 
taking  of  the  subjects  in  the  book  of  Joshua,  where 
Joshua  was  comanded  to  pass  around  the  fortifications  of 
the  enemy  and  blow  the  ram's  horn  and  the  fortifications 
fell,  and,  the  God  of  Joshua  was  the  same  God  that  ex 
isted  to-day  and  there  was  no  question  but  that  God  was 
on  the  side  of  the  South  and  all  they  had  to  do  was  to 
have  faith  and  move  on,  attack  the  lopeared  Dutch  and 
God  was  sure  to  deliver  them  into  their  hands. 

The  author  could  not  help  but  add,  in  his  own  mind, 
that  when  the  attack  is  made  that  God  set  the  earth  to 
shaking  and  all  around  where  the  lopeard  Dutch  are  stand 
ing  that  the  earth  will  open  and  swallow  them  up  just 
leave  their  heads  above  the  surface ;  so  that  those  Con  - 
federates  who  were  so  furious  could  take  their  big  knives 
and  scalp  the  Dutch  as  they  had  said  on  divers  occasions 
they  intended  to  do. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  71 

Makes  His  Escape. 

The  author  was  determined  to  make  his  escape  when 
ever  the  opportunity  offered ;  and  he  could  learn  all  about 
the  whereabouts  of  the  Federal  soldiers  from  the  excited 
Confederate  scouts  who  would  ride  along-  the  lines  and  say 
that  the  lopeared  Dutch  were  as  thick  as  rats  at  Springfield, 
Missouri,  moving  around  in  every  direction  and  they 
might  be  attacked  at  any  time  and  General  McBride  was 
looking  every  day  to  be  attacked  by  the  Federal  forces  to 
cut  off  his  forming  a  junction  with  Generals  Price  and 
McCullough. 

In  about  four  or  five  days  they  reached  Berryville,  near 
where  the  Eureka  Springs  are,  and  went  into  camp  just 
west  of  Berryville  right  at  the  spurs  of  the  Boston  moun 
tain.  The  prisoners  were  placed  in  the  guard  house  near  a 
little  creek  that  was  then  dry.  Captain  Forshee's  com 
pany  went  into  camp  next  to  the  company  comanded  by 
Captain  Galloway  of  Howell  county.  As  the  weather  was 
very  hot  and  dry  and  the  author  had  been  marched  bare 
footed  (one  of  his  shoes  having  worn  out)  until  his  feet 
were  badly  blistered,  he  was  lying  down,  feigning  sickness. 
The  guard  has  become  a  little  careless.  Just  about  sundown 
heavy  thunder  set  in  in  the  west.  The  clouds  continued  to 
increase,  the  elements  grew  very  dark.  In  the  mean  time 
they  had  put  out  a  chain  guard  all  around  the  encamp 
ment  and  said  guard  was  about  thirty  steps  from  guard 
house.  The  low  lands  were  all  bottom,  covered  with 
heavy  timber  and  a  large  oak  had  fallen  across  the  creek 
and  reached  from  bank  to  bank  and  the  bark  had  all  slip 
ped  off.  About  thirty  feet  from  the  top  of  the  tree  the  foot 
of  a  steep  mountain  set  in.  The  guard  fire  was  about  sixty 
yards  south  of  the  guardhouse.  The  clouds  soon  came 
up  and  a  heavy  rain  set  in,  with  terrific  thunder  and  light- 


HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

ning,  and  as  the  army  had  temporary  tents  the  guards  all 
crawled  in  under  the  tents  and  left  the  author  by  the  fire. 
The  rain  soon  quenched  the  fire. 

The  chain  guard  were  walking  up  and  down  the  dry 
creek  and  they  met  at  the  log  referred  to.  The  author 
thought  now  was  his  time  to  make  his  escape,  if  ever ; know 
ing  that  he  would  have  to  have  a  shoe,  slipped  to  one  of  the 
tents,  got  hold  of  a  shoe,  and  then  the  thought  struck  him 
that  he  would  like  to  have  a  revolver,  but  on  further  ex 
amination  found  their  revolvers  to  be  placed  in  such  a  posi 
tion  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  one  without  waking  the 
men.  He  then  slipped  to  the  butt  of  the  log  and  heard  the 
guard  meet  at  the  log  and  turn  again  on  their  beat.  He  at 
once  crossed  on  the  log  on  the  other  side,  walked  into  the 
the  brush,  reached  the  foot  of  the  mountain  about  twenty 
steps  distant  and  halted.  Everything  appeared  to  be  quiet, 
the  release  around  the  guard  fire  were  singing,  whooping 
and  holloing. 

The  author  then  took  the  mountain  which  was  about 
one  quarter  of  a  mile  high,  and  it  always  has  appeared  to 
the  author  that  he  crossed  the  log  and  went  up  the  moun- 
ain  as  light  as  a  cat.  On  reaching  the  top,  still  raining 
heavily,  the  thought  came  into  his  mind  that  "I  am  once 
more  a  free  man,  but  I  am  in  an  enemy's  country,  without 
friends,"  and  at  once  determined  in  my  mind  to  reach 
Springfield,  Missouri,  if  possible.  I  sat  down,  pulled  on 
the  shoe  that  I  had  taken  and  it  just  fitted  without  a  sock; 
I  then  procured  a  dead  stick  for  the  purpose  of  holding 
before  me  as  I  traveled  for  fear  I  would  walk  off  of  some 
steep  cliff  or  bluff,  as  it  was  very  mountaineous. 

Having  the  guard  fire  for  a  criterion  I  moved  north 
west,  soon  struck  the  leading  road  west  that  the  army  was 
marching  on,  traveled  the  road  for  about  one  mile,  came 
onto  the  pickets,  surrounded  the  pickets,  struck  the  road 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  73 

again,  traveled  all  night  until  just  gray  day,  directly  west 
or  nearly  so.  A  slow  rain  continued  all  night.  As  soon 
as  it  became  light  enough  to  see  I  found  myself  in  a  coun 
try  completely  covered  with  pine  timber.  I  turned  square 
from  the  road,  went  about  350  yards  up  to  the  top  of  a 
high  knob,  found  about  one  quarter  of  an  acre  level  bench. 
A  large  pine  had  turned  out  by  the  roots  and  the  hole  wras 
partially  filled  with  old  leaves.  The  author  always  had 
been  afraid  of  a  snake  but  the  time  had  come  when  he  had 
more  fear  of  a  man  than  a  snake,  so  he  rolled  himself 
down  into  the  hole  in  the  leaves  and  at  the  time  had  be 
come  chilled  with  the  steady  rain.  About  9  or  10  o'clock, 
as  well  as  the  author  could  guess,  he  heard  the  beat  of  the 
drum  which  told  that  the  army  \vas  marching  on  the  same 
road  that  he  had  traveled  in  the  night.  In  a  short  time 
the  army  passed  where  the  author  wras  lying  in  the  sink. 
The  author  could  have  raised  himself  up  and  have  seen  the 
procession  pass  but  he  had  seen  them  just  as  often  as  he 
wanted  to  and  he  remained  still.  Late  in  the  evening  a 
company  of  about  65  men  passed.  The  author  was  inform 
ed  afterwards  that  they  had  been  detailed  to  make  search 
for  the  prisoner,  with  orders  if  they  found  him,  to  shoot 
him  at  once.  The  author  was  further  informed  by  Confed 
erates  who  belonged  to  the  command  that  as  soon  next 
morning  as  it  was  reported  that  the  author  had  made  his 
escape  that  the  chain  guard  declared  that  no  man  could 
have  passed  between  them  and  they  were  satisfied  that 
the  author  was  still  inside  of  the  lines. 

They  at  once  made  a  large  detail  and  commenced 
searching.  There  were  quite  a  large  number  of  box  elders 
with  very  heavy,  bushy  tops.  They  said  every  single  tree, 
every  drift  and  possible  place  of  hiding,  was  examined. 
Orders  were  at  once  issued  by  the  commander,  who  sent 
word  back  to  the  home  of  the  author,  that  he  had  made  his 


74  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

escape  and  to  watch  for  him  and  as  soon  as  he  came  in  home 
to  arrest  him  and  either  shoot  him  or  hang  him  at  once. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  it  cleared  off  and  just 
as  soon  as  dark  came,  the  author  was  determined  to  try  to 
reach  Springfield,  being  in  a  strange  country  and  knowing 
that  if  he  was  re-captured  it  would  be  certain  death.  He 
knew  somewhere  about  the  distance  he  had  traveled  west. 
He  located  the  north  star  which  he  used  as  his  pilot  or  guide 
and  set  out  for  Springfield,  having  no  arms  of  any  kind,  not 
even  a  pocket  knife  and  had  become  very  hungry.  He  came 
to  a  slippery-elm  tree,  took  a  rock,  knocked  off  some  of  the 
bark,  ate  it  and  proceeded  on  his  journey,  traveling  all 
night.  When  gray  day  appeared  again,  he  went  to  a  hick 
ory  grub,  broke  the  grub  off  with  a  rock,  cut  the  top  off 
with  a  sharp  edged  rock,  to  be  used  for  a  weapon,  placed 
himself  in  hiding, remained  all  day.  As  soon  as  night  came, 
again  he  proceeded  on  his  journey,  traveled  no  roads  except 
when  they  run  in  direction  of  the  north  star.  On  the  sec 
ond  morning  he  went  into  a  small  cave  surrounded  by  a 
thicket,  about  10  o'clock  in  the  day  he  found  that  he  was 
near  enough  to  some  rebel  command  to  hear  the  drilling. 
As  soon  as  dark  came  on  he  proceeded  on  his  journey. 
The  nights  were  dark  and  only  star  light  until  the  after  part 
of  the  night.  He  went  near  a  spring  house,  but  when  he 
got  to  it,  there  wasn't  a  drop  of  milk  in  it.  He  passed 
through  an  Irish  potato  patch,  grabbled  two  or  three  small 
Irish  potatoes  and  ate  them;  passed  through  a  wheat  field, 
rubbed  out  some  dry  wheat  in  his  hand,  ate  that;  ate  a  few 
leaves  off  of  a  cabbage.  On  the  third  morning,  went  into 
hiding,  remained  until  the  darkness  came  again  and  re 
sumed  the  journey. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  at  daylight  I  had  reached  an 
old  trace,  pulled  off  my  clothes  and  wrung  them  and  put 
them  on  again  as  the  dew  was  very  heavy  and  every  morn- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  75 

ing  my  clothes  would  be  wet.  I  went  about  30  or  40  yards 
from  the  old  trace  and  thought  to  myself,  if  I  saw  any  per 
son  passing  that  was  not  armed,  that  I  would  approach 
and  learn  where  I  was.  Hadn't  been  there  more  than 
a  half  hour  when  I  heard  a  wagon  coming.  As  soon  as  the 
wagon  came  in  sight  I  saw  that  there  was  a  lady  driving, 
accompanied  by  a  small  girl  and  boy,  I  got  up  and  moved 
into  the  road,  walked  on,  and  met  the  wagon,  spoke  to  the 
lady.  She  stopped  the  wagon  and  I  asked  her  if  she  would 
be  kind  enough  to  tell  me  where  I  was,  that  I  had  got  lost, 
traveled  all  night  and  didn't  know  where  I  was.  She  told 
the  author  that  he  was  in  Stone  county,  Missouri,  and 
asked  him  where  he  was  from.  I  told  her  that  I  was  from 
the  state  of  Arkansas.  She  wanted  to  know  if  there  was 
much  excitement  there.  I  told  her  that  there  was;  that 
men  were  enlisting  and  going  into  the  Confederate  service 
and  the  people  were  generally  excited  over  the  prospect  of 
war.  I  asked  her  if  there  was  any  excitement  in  this  coun 
try.  She  replied  that  there  was — that  the  rebels  a  day  or 
two  ago  had  run  in,  on  White  River,  and  killed  four  Union 
men  and  drove  out  about  40  head  of  cattle  and  "that's  why 
I  am  going  out  here  in  this  wagon.  My  husband  belongs 
to  the  home  guards  and  has  come  in  home  on  a  furlough 
and  is  afraid  to  knock  around  the  place  for  fear  he  will  be 
waylaid  and  shot  by  the  rebels." 

I  then  asked  her  if  she  would  allow  me  to  ask  her  a 
civil  question.  She  replied  that  she  would.  I  asked  her 
what  her  politics  were,  and  she  told  me  that  she  was  a 
Union  woman.  I  told  her,  then,  that  I  would  tell  her  the 
truth;  that  the  rebels  had  had  me  prisoner  and  that  I  had 
made  my  escape  from  them  and  had  been  traveling  only  in 
the  night  time;  that  this  was  the  fourth  morning  since  I 
had  made  my  escape,  and  I  asked  her  how  far  it  was  to  the 
house ;  that  she  was  the  first  person  I  had  spoken  to  since 


76  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

I  had  made  my  escape.  She  said  it  was  about  350  yards 
around  the  point,  to  go  on  down  to  the  house,  and  as  soon 
as  she  got  some  light  wood  she  would  be  back.  I  went  to 
the  house,  halloed  at  the  fence,  a  man  came  to  the  door 
and  invited  me  in.  I  walked  in,  and  at  orce  I  began  to 
look  for  arms,  and  to  my  great  delight  I  saw  a  Springfield 
musket  lying  in  the  gun  rack,  with  a  cartridge  box  with 
the  letters  U.  S.  on  it.  O!  the  thrill  of  joy  that  passed 
through  my  mind.  I  had  often  heard  the  old  adage  quoted, 
that  "a  friend  in  need  is  a  friend  indeed,"  but  had  never 
before  realized  its  full  meaning.  In  a  short  time  the  lady 
returned.  She  went  to  work  cooking,  soon  had  me  some 
thing  to  eat,  but  I  had  almost  lost  my  appetite,  having 
fasted  so  long. 

After  I  ate  something  and  while  she  was  preparing 
provisions  to  carry  with  me  the  man  told  me  there  was 
but  one  place  that  we  could  cross  White  river  without 
being  placed  in  great  danger  of  being  captured  by  the 
rebels,  for  they  were  patroling  up  and  down  the  river 
every  day.  I  told  him  I  never  had  attempted  to  travel 
a  foot  in  daylight  since  I  had  made  my  escape.  He  told 
me  he  thought  if  we  could  get  safely  across  the  river,  he 
knew  of  an  old  trace  that  led  across  the  mountains 
and  intersected  Taney  county  and  as  soon  as  we  reached 
that  settlement  they  all  belonged  to  home  guards  and  a 
man  would  be  in  no  danger  in  making  himself  known. 

The  woman  baked  enough  biscuit  and  tied  up  bacon 
and  red  onions  with  them,  the  author  thought,  to  have 
lasted  a  hungry  man  three  days,  for  him  to  carry  with 
him  and  we  at  once,  after  taking  leave  of  the  good 
woman  followed  by  her  best  wishes  that  I  would  get 
through  to  the  Federal  lines  safely,  started  for  White  river, 
about  two  miles  distant.  Just  before  reaching  the  river 
he  left  the  author  standing  in  the  road,  went  into  the 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  77 

house  near  by  and  soon  came  out  with  two  other  men  in 
company  with  him.  On  reaching  the  river  where  there 
was  a  canoe  tied  to  the  bank  they  stepped  aside  by  them 
selves,  held  a  short  consultation ;  then  all  got  into  the  canoe, 
carried  me  across  the  river,  piloted  me  across  the  river 
bottom  to  where  the  old  trace  left  the  bottom;  there  we 
separated,  they  hoping  that  I  would  get  through  to  the 
Federal  lines  safely.  They  didn't  think  there  was  any 
danger  in  traveling  in  daylight,  because  there  wasn't  a 
single  settlement  for  the  entire  distance  of  25  miles. 

The  author  traveled  on  until  dark  had  overtaken  him. 
The  moon  gave  no  light  until  the  after  part  of  the  night. 
The  author  laid  down  by  the  side  of  the  road,  took  a  nap, 
after  the  moon  came  up  preceded  on  his  journey  and  in 
about  two  miles  came  to  a  house.  Hallooing  at  the  gate,  a 
lady  came  to  the  door  and  said:  "Come  in."  They  ap 
peared  to  have  a  very  savage  dog.  I  remarked  to  the 
lady  that  I  believed  the  dog  would  bite  me  and  noticed  at 
the  same  time  that  she  stood  off  to  one  side  of  the  door. 
She  remarked:  "Go  in;  that  dog  will  not  bite  you." 
As  I  stepped  into  the  door  I  was  confronted  by  a  man 
standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  in  his  night  clothes 
with  his  old  Springfield  musket  cocked  and  presented  and 
he  called  out,  "Halt!"  The  author  halted,  of  course,  and 
the  next  remark  was,  "Who  are  you  and  where  is  the  bal 
ance  of  your  crowd?"  The  author  replied  :  "There  is  no 
balance  of  them  and  there  is  not  much  of  myself  left.  The 
Confederates  have  had  me  prisoner  and  I  have  made  my 
escape  from  them  and  I  am  now  trying  to  reach  Spring 
field,  Missouri." 

The  man  ordered  his  wife  to  strike  a  light,  and  after 
viewing  the  author  critically,  placed  his  Springfield  musket 
near  the  bed  and  invited  the  author  to  take  a  seat,  while 
he  dressed  himself.  Being  not  more  than  two  hours  until 


78  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

daylight,  his  wife  asked  me  to  go  to  bed  and  rest.  I  told 
her  that  I  wasn't  fit  to  lie  in  bed;  that  I  had  lain  on  the 
ground  like  a  hog  ever  since  I  had  been  arrested.  She 
said  that  it  didnt'  matter  how  dirty  a  Union  man  was,  he 
was  welcome  to  sleep  in  her  bed,  and  to  lie  down  and  she 
would  proceed  at  once  to  get  breakfast ;  that  there  were 
some  refugee  wagons,  about  two  miles  distant,  making  their 
way  to  Springfield,  and  that  she  would  have  me  up  in  time 
to  reach  them.  Accordingly,  after  eating  breakfast  before 
daylight,  and  starting  with  the  purpose  to  reach  the  w.agons 
before  they  broke  camp,  the  man  remarked  to  the  author. 
"My  captain  lives  just  this  side  of  where  the  wagons  are 
camped  and  I  know  he  would  love  to  see  you  and  learn  about 
the  movements  of  the  rebels." 

When  we  got  to  the  house,  he  hallooed  and  the  captain 
came  out,  asked  the  author  his  name,  where  he  lived  and 
when  he  was  taken  prisoner.  The  author  gave  him  his 
name  and  place  of  residence,  and  on  learning  that  he  was 
from  Howell  county,  asked  him  if  he  was  acquainted  with 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Washington  Galloway.  The  author 
informed  him  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  him.  He 
inquired  as  to  which  side  he  was  on,  the  Confederate  or 
Union.  The  author  informed  him  that  he  was  on  the  rebel 
side  and  was  a  captain  commanding  one  of  the  rebel  com 
panies;  that  I  saw  him  and  had  had  a  conversation  with 
him  on  the  evening  before  I  made  my  escape.  He  said, 
"He  is  an  own  brother  of  mine.  My  name  is  Jesse  Gallo 
way;"  and  the  tears  ran  from  his  eyes  like  a  whipped 
child.  He  said,  "Get  down;  you  are  not  in  a  condition  to 
travel  any  further  at  the  present  time."  He  gave  me  a 
change  of  clothing  and  had  my  clothes  washed  and  sent  me 
through  to  Springfield  by  one  of  his  men  on  horseback. 

About  three  weeks  after  I  left  him  the  rebels  slipped 
up  near  his  house,  lay  in  ambush,  and  when  he  came  out 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS 

into  the  yard  they  shot  him  to  death  while  he  was  holding 
an  innocent  child  in  his  arms. 

Arrives  at  Springfield. 

On  reaching  Springfield,  I  was  conducted  directly  to 
the  head  quarters  of  Gen.  Lyon,  gave  him  all  the  informa 
tion  in  my  possession  and  told  him  I  had  been  entirely 
stripped,  had  no  means  with  me  for  support  and  I  would 
like  to  join  the  army.  He  remarked  to  me,  "I  don't  want 
you  to  join  the  army;  we  intend  to  move  south  next 
spring  and  you  are  one  of  the  men  that  will  be  in  great  de 
mand.  We  have  a  position  for  you  and  the  Government 
will  pay  you  good  wages." 

A  short  time  after  I  arrived  I  met  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Percy,  a  lawyer,  who  resided  at  West  Plains,  a  bitter 
rebel,  who  was  in  there  as  a  spy.  I  was  alone  and  there 
were  very  few  persons  that  I  was  acquainted  with  living  in 
Springfield.  Percy  had  been  posing  as  a  Union  man  and 
offered  that  if  I  would  go  with  him,  he  would  carry 
me  safely  through  home;  tried  to  get  me  to  agree  to  go  out 
side  the  lines  with  him  after  dark,  but  knowing  that  he 
was  a  bitter  rebel  and  had  been  taking  an  active  part  in 
the  rebel  movement  I  discarded  him  as  quick  as  possible. 
In  a  day  or  two  Benjamin  Alsup,  who  resided  on  Hutton 
Valley,  Howell  county,  happened  to  meet  him  in  town, 
and  he  being  acquainted  in  and  about  Springfield,  had  him 
arrested  at  once.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Moore,  who 
was  a  strong  Union  man,  lived  about  two  miles  from 
Springfield  on  the  WTilson  creek  road  took  me  home  with 
him  for  the  purpose  of  resting  up.  He  was  the  owner  of  a 
fine  dapple  gray  gelding  four  years  old.  He  made  Gen. 
Lyon  a  present  of  him.  About  five  days  before  the  Wilson 
Creek  battle  it  was  reported  that  the  Rebels  were  on  Cane 
creek,  west  of  Springfield,  in  considerable  force.  Gen. 


80  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Lyon  moved  out  with  a  considerable  force,  riding  the  same 
horse,  but  on  seeing  the  federal  forces  approaching  they 
retreated.  On  the  8th  day  of  August  the  rebels  appeared 
in  large  force,  being  commanded  by  Gen.  Price  and  Gen. 
McCullough. 

General  Lyon  Killed  at  Wilson  Creek. 

Gen.  Lyon  sent  out  scouts  with  glasses  for  the  pur 
pose,  it  possible,  of  ascertaining  their  number.  The  reb 
els  had  gone  into  camp  about  ten  miles  from  Springfield, 
with  the  avowed  purpose  of  attacking  Gen.  Lyon  the  next 
day  at  Springfield,  and  as  the  scouts  were  not  able  with 
their  glasses  to  see  the  largest  force  of  rebels,  which  was 
encamped  around  a  point  out  of  sight,  reported  as  to 
what  they  thought  the  number  was.  Lyon  and  Siegel 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  by  strategy  they  could  easily 
whip  them,  so  on  the  morning  of  the  10th,  about  midnight, 
they  broke  camp  at  Springfield,  taking  all  of  their  available 
men.  The  morning  being  very  foggy  and  misty,  they  eas 
ily  surrounded  the  pickets  and  took  them  prisoners  without 
the  firing  of  a  gun,  then  drew  up  and  fired  the  artillery 
into  them  before  they  knew  they  were  there. 

So  the  memorable  fight  known  as  the  battle  of  Wilson 
Creek  was  begun.  Gen.  Lyon  rode  the  horse  above  re 
ferred  to  at  the  time  he  fell  on  the  battlefield.  Both  the 
Confederate  and  Union  side  were  founding  all  their  future 
hopes  upon  the  result  of  that  battle,  as  to  settling  the  ques 
tion  in  Missouri.  The  author  heard  the  artillery  all  day. 
Late  in  the  evening  word  came  to  the  Union  men  that  Gen. 
Lyon  had  been  killed  and  that  the  Federal  army  was  re 
treating  in  the  direction  of  Rolla,  Missouri,  and  that  all  the 
Union  men  and  the  home  guard  would  fall  in  and  meet 
them  at  once.  O!  the  scene  that  followed.  Men  would 
hurriedly  ride  around,  meet  their  wives  and  children,  tell 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  81 

them  that  the  battle  was  lost  and  they  were  then  retreating 
and  they  had  only  time  to  come  around  and  bid  them  good 
bye,  and  to  do  the  best  they  could;  that  they  didn't  know 
that  they  would  ever  be  permitted  to  see  them  again.  We 
could  hear  the  wife  and  children  crying  and  sending  up 
the  most  pitiful  petitions  to  God  to  have  mercy. 

Everything  on  the  Union  side  appeared  to  be  dark, 
although  it  was  a  drawn  battle  and  the  rebels  commenced 
retreating  at  the  same  time,  and  retreated  about  twenty  - 
five  miles  west,  but  on  learning  that  the  Federal  troops 
were  retreating,  they  faced  about,  taking  possession  of  the 
battle-ground  and  all  of  the  southern  and  wrestern  portion  of 
the  state;  and  then  the  rebels,  being  encouraged  by  the 
late  victory,  determined  to  rid  the  country  of  all  Union 
men  at  once. 

About  that  time  about  350  men  mostly  from  Oregon 
county  commanded  by  two  very  prominent  men,  made  a 
scout  into  Ozark  county,  Missouri.  On  reaching  the  North 
fork  of  White  river  they  went  into  camp  at  what  was  known 
as  Jesse  James'  mill.  The  owner,  a  man  of  about  55  or  60 
years  of  age,  as  gocd  a  man  as  resided  in  Ozark  coun 
ty,  was  charged  with  grinding  grain  for  Union  men  and  their 
families;  at  the  time  he,  and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Brown, 
were  cutting  sawlogs  about  two  miles  from  home  in  the 
pinery.  They  went  out  and  arrested  them,  arrested  an  old 
man  by  the  name  of  Russell  and  several  others,  carried  them 
to  a  man's  house,  who  was  a  Union  man,  and  had  fled  to 
prevent  arrest.  They  took  Brown  and  James  abont  300 
yards  from  the  house,  procured  a  rope,  hunted  a  long  limb 
of  a  tree,  rolled  a  big  rock  up  to  the  first  rope  where  it  was 
tied  to  the  limb,  placed  the  noose  around  James'  neck, 
stood  him  on  the  rock,  rolled  the  rock  from  under  him  and 
left  him  swinging,  rolled  the  rock  to  the  next  rope,  stood 
Brown  on  it,  placed  the  noose  around  his  neck,  rolled  the 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  83 

rock  out  and  left  Brown  swinging  in  the  air,  went  to  the 
third  rope,  placed  Russell  on  the  rock,  and  just  as  they 
aimed  to  adjust  the  noose,  word  came  that  the  home  guards 
and  Federals  were  right  upon  them  in  considerable  force. 
They  fled,  leaving  Russell  standing  upon  the  rock  and  both 
Brown  and  James  dangling  in  the  air. 

Their  Wives  and  Other  Women  Bury  Them. 

Every  Union  man  now  having  fled  in  fear  of  his  life, 
the  next  day  the  wives  of  Brown  and  James,  with  the  help 
of  a  few  other  women,  buried  them  as  best  they  could. 
They  dug  graves  underneath  the  swinging  bodies,  laid  bed 
clothing  in  the  graves  and  cut  them  loose.  The  bodies  fell 
into  the  coffinless  graves  and  the  earth  was  replac 
ed.  So  the  author  is  satisfied  that  the  bones  of  these  men 
still  remain  in  the  lonely  earth  underneath  where  they  met 
their  untimely  death  with  no  charge  against  them  except 
that  they  had  been  feeding  Union  men,  with  no  one  to  bury 
them  but  their  wives  and  a  few  other  women  who  aided. 

Some  of  the  men  who  were  in  the  scout  and  present 
when  the  hanging  was  done  are  still  living  in  the  counties 
of  Howell  and  Oregon. 

A  General  Jackson  Soldier  Shot  Down. 

A  short  time  after  this  hanging  there  was  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Rhodes,  who  resided  on  the  head  of  Bennett's 
Bayou  in  Howell  county.  He  was  about  eighty  years  of  age 
and  had  been  a  soldier  under  General  Jackson.  His  head 
was  perfectly  white  and  he  was  very  feeble.  When  he 
heard  of  the  hanging  of  Brown  and  James  he  said  openly 
that  there  was  no  civil  war  in  that,  and  that  the  men  who 
did  it  were  guilty  of  murder. 

Some  two  weeks  from  the  date  of  the  hanging  of  Brown 
and  James,  about  twenty -five  men,  hearing  of  what  he 
had  said,  organized  themselves  and  commanded  by  Dr. 


84  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Nunly  and  William  Sapp,  proceeded  to  the  house  of 
Rhodes,  where  he  and  his  aged  wife  resided  alone,  called 
him  out  and  told  him  they  wanted  him  to  go  with  them. 
His  aged  wife  came  out,  and  being  acquainted  with  a  part 
of  the  men,  and  knowing  that  they  had  participated  in  the 
hanging  and  shooting  of  a  number  of  Union  men,  talked 
with  them  and  asked:  "You  are  not  going  to  hurt  my  old 
man?"  They  said:  "We  just  want  him  to  go  a  piece 
with  us  over  here."  Ordering  the  old  man  to  come  along, 
they  went  over  to  a  point  about  one  quarter  from  the  house 
and  informed  him  of  what  he  had  said.  There  they  shot 
him,  cut  his  ears  off  and  his  heart  out.  Dr.  Nunly  re 
marked  that  he  was  going  to  take  the  heart  home  with 
him,  pickle  it  and  keep  it  so  people  could  see  how  a  black 
republican's  heart  looked. 

They  left  him  lying  on  the  ground,  proceeded  directly 
to  Joseph  Spears',  who  resided  about  six  miles  west  of  town 
on  the  Yellville  road,  declaring  that  they  were  going  to  treat 
him  the  same  way.  They  reached  his  house  about  two  hours 
in  the  night,  all  full  of  whiskey.  When  they  arrived  there 
Spears  was  sick  in  bed.  They  dismounted,  came  in,  or 
dered  their  suppers  and  their  horses  fed.  Spears  at  that 
time  owned  a  negro  man,  and  he  ordered  him  to  put  up  the 
horses  and  feed  them,  and  his  wife  to  get  them  supper. 
After  supper,  they  concluded  to  remain  until  morning. 
During  the  night  they  became  sober,  and  concluded,  since 
Spears  owned  a  "nigger,"  that  it  could  not  be  possible 
that  he  was  a  Union  man,  and  the  reports  that  they  had 
heard  that  he  was  a  Union  man  might  be  untrue,  and  they 
would  let  him  alone  until  they  could  investigate  further. 

In  the  meantime,  Rhodes  not  having  returned  home, 
and  not  a  single  Union  man  left  in  the  country  that  Mrs. 
Rhodes  could  get  to  look  after  him,  and  -having  heard 
when  they  reached  Joseph  Spears'  that  the  old  man  was 


86  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN   MISSOURI 

not  with  them,  although  very  feeble,  she  still  continued  the 
search ;  on  the  second  day,  about  fifty  yards  from  the  road 
and  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  home,  while  she  was 
looking  for  him,  she  heard  hogs  squealing  and  grunting  as 
though  they  were  eating  something.  Sfe  proceeded  to  the 
place  and  found  the  hogs  Were  just  about  to  commence  eat 
ing  the  remains  of  her  husband.  The  Union  men  having 
fled,  she  notified  some  of  the  neighbors,  and  the  women 
came  in  and  helped  dress  the  body  and  buried  him  the  best 
they  could;  and  neither  at  the  taking  down  or  burial  of 
Brown  and  James  and  the  burial  of  the  old  man  Rhodes  did 
a  single  rebel  put  in  an  appearance. 

There  never  was  a  man  arrested  by  the  Confederate 
authorities,  or  a  single  word  of  condemnation  uttered,  but 
as  far  as  could  be  heard  there  was  general  approval.  It  was 
said  that  the  means  used  were  desperate,  but  that  was  the 
only  way  to  get  rid  of  the  men  and  strike  terror  to  them  so 
they  could  neither  give  aid  nor  countenance  to  the  lop- 
eared  Dutch. 

Benjamin  Alsup  Taken  to  Little  Rock. 

In  a  few  days  following  they  proceeded  to  arrest  Ben 
jamin  Alsup,  residing  in  Hutton  Valley,  who  was  a  strong 
Union  man,  took  him  to  Little  Rock,  placed  him  in  the 
state  penitentiary,  and  kept  him  there  until  after  Little 
Rock  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Federals,  when  they  ex 
changed  him  with  other  prisoners.  While  they  had  him  in 
prison  they  worked  him  in  a  bark  mill  by  the  side  of  an 
old  mule,  with  a  strap  around  his  breast  and  two  leather 
hand  holds.  He  pulled  so  much  in  the  mill  that  his  little 
finger  was  calloused  and  he  almost  entirly  lost  the  use  of  it. 

After  they  had  hung,  shot,  captured  and  driven 
from  the  country  all  of  the  Union  men,  they  called  a  public 
meeting  for  the  purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  what 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  87 

should  be  done  with  the  families  of  the  Union  men,  which 
meeting  had  a  number  of  preachers  in  it.  After  discussing 
the  premises,  they  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  if  they 
let  the  families  of  the  Union  men,  who  had  escaped  and 
gone  into  the  Federal  lines,  remain,  they  would  return  and 
bring  in  the  lop-eared  Dutch.  They  didn't  believe  that 
both  parties  could  ever  live  together,  and  as  they  now  had 
the  country  completely  rid  of  the  Union  men,  they  would 
force  their  families  to  leave.  They  at  once  appointed  men, 
among  whom  were  several  preachers,  to  go  to  each  one  of 
the  Union  families  and  notify  them  that  they  would  not  be 
allowed  to  remain;  because  if  they  let  them  stay,  their  men 
would  be  trying  to  come  back,  and  they  didn't  believe  both, 
parties  could  live  together.  They  stated  at  the  same  time 
that  they  were  really  sorry  for  the  women  and  children ,  but 
nobody  wras  to  blame  but  their  husbands  and  sons,  who 
had  cast  their  lot  with  the  lop-eared  Dutch.  Also,  as  they 
had  taken  up  arms  against  the  Confederate  states,  all  the 
property  they  had,  both  real  and  personal,  was  subject  to 
confiscation  and  belonged  to  the  Confederate  authorities ; 
but  they  would  allow  them  to  take  enough  of  the  property 
to  carry  them  inside  of  the  lines  of  the  lop-eared  Dutch, 
where  they  supposed  their  men  were  and  where  they  then 
could  care  for  them. 

Loyal  Women  Driven  From  Their  Homes. 

They  said  they  might  have  a  reasonable  time  to  make 
preparations  to  leave  the  country,  and  if  they  didn't  leave, 
they  would  be  forced  to  do  so,  if  they  had  to  arrest  them 
and  carry  them  out. 

The  wildest  excitement  then  prevailed  among  the 
women  and  children.  They  had  no  men  to  transact  their 
business  and  make  preparations  to  leave.  Little  had  they 
thought,  while  they  were  chasing,  arresting,  hanging  and 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

shooting  their  men,  that  they,  too,  would  become  victims 
of  the  rebel  hatred  and  be  forced  to  leave  house  and  home, 
not  knowing  where  their  men  were  or  whether  they  were 
dead  or  alive.  All  they  knew  of  their  whereabouts  was, 
that  those  who  escaped  arrest' had  left  their  homes,  aiming 
to  reach  the  nearest  Federal  lines. 

Women  were  at  once  dispatched  to  reach  the  nearest 
Federal  lines,  if  possible,  and  inform  them  of  the  Confed 
erate  order,  and  procure  help  to  take  them  out.  Their 
homes  and  houses  were  being  continuall}r  raided  by  small 
bands  of  Confederates  roaming  over  the  country,  claiming 
that  they  were  hunting  Union  men,  taking  all  classes  of 
property  that  they  might  see  proper  to  take,  without  any 
restraint  whatever. 

When  the  Union  men  heard  that  an  order  had  been 
made  requiring  their  families  to  leave,  not  thinking  that  a 
thing  of  that  kind  would  ever  occur,  having  left  them  with 
comfortable  homes  and  plenty  to  eat,  the  wildest  consterna 
tion  reigned  amongst  them. 

The  Federal  authorities  were  willing  to  give  them  aid, 
but  were  placed  in  such  a  condition  that  they  needed  every 
man  in  the  field,  and  for  that  reason  couldn't  give  them 
any  help  in  getting  out.  The  women  had  to  speedily  fit 
up  as  best  they  could,  close  their  doors  and  start  for  the 
Federal  lines,  leaving  the  most  of  their  property  in  the 
hands  of  the  rebels.  The  rebels  proceeded  at  once  to  take 
possession  of  and  occupy  most  of  the  homes. 

The  suffering  that  followed  the  women  and  children  is 
indescribable.  They  had  to  drive  their  own  teams,  take 
care  "of  the  little  ones,  travel  through  the  storms,  exposed 
to  it  all  without  a  man  to  help  them,  nor  could  they  hear  a 
single  word  of  comfort  spoken  by  husband,  son  or  friend. 
On  reaching  the  Federal  lines,  all  vacant  houses  and  places 
of  shelter  were  soon  filled,  and  they  were  known  and  styled 


90  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

as  refugees.  Many  of  them  went  into  soldier  huts,  where 
the  soldiers  had  wintered  and  covered  the  tops  of  their  huts 
with  earth.  They  had  to  leave  home  with  a  small  amount 
of  rations,  and  on  the  road  the  rebels  would  stop  them  and 
make  them  divide  up  the  little  they  had  started  with,  and 
reaching  the  Federal  lines  they  would  be  almost  destitute 
of  food  and  many  of  them  very  scantily  clothed. 

They  would  at  once  commence  inquiring  for  their  hus 
bands  and  sons.  Numbers  of  them  never  found  them,  as 
they  had  been  captured,  killed  and  imprisoned  while 
attempting  to  reach  the  Federal  lines.  O!  The  untold 
misery  that  then  confronted  them!  After  they  had  trav 
eled  and  half  starved  and  suffered  from  cold  and  exposure, 
promising  themselves  that  when  they  reached  the  Federal 
lines  they  would  again  meet  their  loved  ones  who  could 
again  care  for  them,  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment, 
in  a  large  number  of  instances. 

Those  who  did  meet  their  husbands  and  sons  were  also 
disappointed ;  they  had  either  joined  the  service  or  been 
employed  by  the  government  as  guides  and  scouts,  and  the 
small  amount  of  pay  they  received  from  the  government, 
wouldn't  provide  food  and  raiment  for  their  families.  They 
were  compelled  to  still  be  absent  from  their  families, 
although  they  were  suffering  greatly  for  all  of  the 
necessaries  of  life  and  for  clothing  and  shelter.  The 
women's  task  of  caring  for  and  looking  after  the  family  and 
the  little  ones  was  just  as  great  after  they  had  reached  the 
Federal  lines  as  before.  The  government  ordered  that 
wherever  aid  could  be  given,  rations  should  be  issued  to  the 
families,  and  while  the  government  did  all  it  could  in  this 
way,  it  was  not  able  to  furnish  shelter  and  houses  for  their 
comfort.  Winter  came  on  and  they  underwent  untold  suf 
fering;  disease  set  in  from  exposure,  besides  the  contagious 
diseases  of  smallpox  and  measles,  and  hundreds  of  them 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  91 

died  for  want  of  proper  attention,  while  their  men  were  in 
the  lines  of  the  service  of  the  government. 

Here  let  the  author  speak  a  word  in  behalf  of  the  de 
votion  and  patriotism  manifested  by  those  loyal  women  who 
had  given  their  husbands  and  their  sous  to  be  placed  upon 
the  altar  of  the  country,  and  sacrificed  their  homes  and 
their  firesides,  had  become  exiles  and  wanderers,  without 
home  or  shelter,  had  undergone  untold  suffering,  had  faced 
disease  and  death,  had  seen  the  little  ones  die,  calling  for 
papa,  shivering  with  cold,  suffering  with  hunger — all  for 
the  love  of  their  country.  Yet  when  they  would  see  the 
Federal  troops  move  by,  with  the  stars  and  stripes  un 
furled,  they  would  cheer  the  boys  in  blue  as  they  would 
pass,  and  urge  them  to  save  the  country  they  loved  so  well 
and  had  made  so  many  sacrifices  for  and  were  still  willing 
to  suffer  and  wrestle  with  all  the  ills  that  a  desperate  war 
had  brought  upon  the  country,  and  wanted  to  live  to  once 
more  be  returned  to  their  own  hearthstones  and  be  permit 
ted  to  live  under  their  own  vine  and  fig  tree,  where  no  man 
dare  molest  them  or  make  them  afraid,  to  again  enjoy  all 
the  sweet  comforts  of  life. 

We  revere  and  honor  every  Federal  soldier  who  enlisted 
in  the  interest  of  his  country  from  the  Northern  States, 
where  they  knew  nothing  about  war  except  what  they  read, 
their  families  being  left  in  comfortable  circumstances, 
with  plenty  to  eat  and  wear  and  friends  to  speak  works  of 
comfort  to  them, while  their  husbands  and  sons  had  gone  to 
the  front  and  were  willing  to  sacrifice  themselves  on  the 
alter  of  their  country,  if  it  became  necessary.  But  O!  the 
comparison  between  the  sacrifices  made  by  the  loyal  ele 
ment  in  those  portions  of  the  country  where  they  were 
completely  surrounded  by  the  enemy. 

Those  who  were  willing  to  lay  upon  the  alter  of  their 
country,  their  fathers  and  sons,  their  wives  and  children, 


92  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

their  property  and  their  sacred  honor  in  support  of  the 
government  they  loved  so  well,  with  no  protection  from 
the  government;  no  arms,  amunitions,  rations,  clothing  or 
pay  from  the  government,  was  thought  of  for  a  moment. 
The  only  question  that  prompted,  ruled  and  controlled  them 
was  their  patriotism  to  their  God  and  their  country.  When 
we  come  to  compare  the  sacrifices,  privations,  suffering 
and  services  between  the  two  classes  of  loyalists  the  first 
referred  to,  sink  into  insignificance. 

O !  never  let  us  forget  to  honor  and  revere  patriotism 
and  sacrifices  that  were  made  by  the  loyal  men  and  women 
that  were  surrounded  in  the  enemy's  country  and  continu 
al  fighting  without  and  within.  Their  husbands  and 
sons  were  shot  and  hung  and  imprisoned  all  over  this 
country,  whose  bodies  never  were  even  honored 
with  a  burial.  Orders  being  made  by  the  rebels  that  they 
should  not  be  buried ;  but  yet  they  live  and  speak  in 
thunder  tones  to  the  living.  I^et  us  plead  with  the  living 
to  revere  and  honor  the  stars  and  stripes  that  were  main 
tained  and  supported  by  the  blood  and  lives  and  sacrifices 
of  the  loyal  men  and  women  of  the  South. 

After  the  rebels  had  completely  driven  all  the  loyal 
element  out  of  the  country  and  had  but  one  political  party 
left  they  exclaimed,  " Now  the  means  that  we  have  been 
forced  to  use  are  very  harsh  but  the  line  has  been  drawn  and 
all  of  the  parties  who  are  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  lop- 
eard  Dutch  are  all  outside  of  the  Confederate  line  and  we 
will  never  be  troubled  with  them  and  the  lopeared  Dutch 
any  more." 

The  author  went  back  in  retreat  with  General  Siegel, 
after  the  Wilson  Creek  battle.  On  reaching  Rolla,  Mis 
souri,  Siegel  went  into  quarters  for  the  winter.  The  author 
was  almost  worn  out  with  exposure  and  traveling,  and  as 
General  Siegel  informed  him  that  there  would  be  no  ad- 


AND   NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  93 

vance  made  south  until  the  spring  of  1862,  and  as  his  fam 
ily  had  been  left  in  comfortable  circumstances,  with  plenty 
to  eat  and  wear,  and  he,  being  acquainted  with  some  men 
by  the  name  of  Cope,  who  lived  near  Jerseyville  in  Jersey 
county,  Illinois,  went  to  that  place,  remained  a  month,  and 
being  taken  sick  with  lung  fever,  came  very  near  dying. 
He  told  his  friends  where  he  was  staying  that  if  he  died,  he 
would  die  dissatisfied ;  that  he  wanted  to  live  and  be  able 
to  move  with  the  Federal  command  in  the  spring  of  1862 
when  it  moved  south.  After  he  had  partially  recovered  he 
learned  that  a  Mr.  Cope,  who  was  living  neighbor  to 
him  at  the  time  of  his  arrest  and  capture,  had  moved 
into  Randolph  county,  Illinois.  He  visited  the  fam 
ily  at  once,  hoping  to  hear  from  his  family  at  home,  and 
remained  there  about  a  month.  His  wife,  among  many 
others,  being  notified  to  leave,  had  been  informed  that  the 
author  had  made  his  escape,  reached  Springfield,  and  had 
gone  back  with  Siegel  in  his  retreat  to  Rolla.  She  was 
permitted  to  dispose  of  just  enough  of  the  property,  at  the 
rebels'  own  prices,  to  enable  her  to  move,  the  family  con 
sisting  of  herself  and  five  small  children.  She  was  follow 
ed  on  the  road  and  her  wagons  searched  for  arms,  and 
the  rebels  threatened  to  take  her  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas, 
but  to  enable  her  to  reach  Rolla,  Missouri,  she  posed  as 
the  wife  of  a  rebel  who  had  gone  into  the  Confederate  ser 
vice,  and  said  she  was  trying  to  reach  her  father,  who  re 
sided  near  Rolla.  By  making  that  impression,  her  wagons 
were  not  disturbed  any  more.  On  reaching  Rolla,  she 
went  to  Colonel  Phelps,  who  was  afterwards  governor  of 
the  state,  and  inquired  if  he  knew  anything  of  the  where 
abouts  of  the  author.  He  informed  her  that  he  had  no 
knowledge  of  his  whereabouts  at  that  time,  but  he 
would  take  her  name,  place  an  advertisement  of  her  arrival 


94  HISTORY   OE   SOUTHERN   MISSOURI 

at  Rolla,  in  the  paper,  and  if  he  was  alive  it  might  reach 
him. 

Every  house  and  cabin  was  full,  it  being  in  the  dead 
of  winter,  and  a  deep  snow  upon  the  ground,  but  through 
the  aid  and  assistance  of  one  Cyrus  Newberry,  who  had 
escaped  through  the  lines  in  Ho  well  county,  she  procured 
a  shelter  about  three  miles  north  of  Rolla,  which  was  very 
uncomfortable ;  her  clothes  were  partially  frozen  on  her  at 
that  time.  In  a  short  time  the  advertisement  reached  the 
author  in  Randolph  county,  Illinois.  He  at  once  set  out 
for  Rolla,  Missouri,  to  meet  his  family.  The  house  that 
she  had  first  got  into  was  used  by  her  but  a  short  time,  and 
she  had  been  forced  to  go  into  one  of  the  huts  that  had 
lately  been  occupied  by  the  soldiers  and  had  been  made 
vacant  by  their  moving  west  to  Springfield. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  author,  O!  the  horror  and  the 
joy  that  were  intermingled !  I  was  proud  to  once  more 
meet  my  wife  and  children,  but  in  a  moment  the  thought 
would  pass  through  my  mind,  "I  left  you  in  a  comfortable 
home,  with  plenty  to  eat,  and  now  to  see  you  here  in  this 
'dug-out,'  suffering  for  food  and  shelter!  O!  the  war, 
the  horrible  war !  What  is  it  that  men  won't  do?"  I  set 
out  at  once  to  procure  a  comfortable  shelter  for  my  fam 
ily  and  to  get  in  readiness  to  move  south  with  the  army. 
Gen.  Curtis,  then  in  command  of  the  western  department, 
was  preparing  to  make  a  general  move  south.  I  was  em 
ployed  by  the  government  as  a  guide,  receiving  $1.50  per 
day,  with  rations  and  clothing. 

Establishing  a  Federal  Post  at  West  Plains. 

The  army  soon  broke  camp  and  moved  southward.  On 
arriving  at  West  Plains,  the  Federal  army  located  a  post 
there.  Capt.  McNulty,  of  the  First  Illinois  cavalry,  who 
had  been  wounded  in  a  battle  with  Gen.  Mulligan,  was  made 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  95 

Provost  Marshal.  The  author  was  at  once  detailed  and 
placed  in  the  Provost  Marshal's  office  as  assistant,  as  he  was 
well  acquainted  with  all  of  the  people  in  the  surrounding 
country.  The  Provost  Marshal  would  order  the  author  to 
be  seated  in  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  office,  and  as  a  gen 
eral  order  had  gone  forth  from  Curtis  requiring  all  rebels 
and  rebel  sympathizers  to  come  in  and  take  the  oath,  and 
as  hundreds  of  them  were  daily  coming  into  the  office  for 
that  purpose,  the  Provost  Marshal  ordered  the  author  to 
watch  every  person  who  entered  the  office  and  whenever 
any  person  entered  who  had  been  taking  an  active  part  in 
committing  depredations,  just  to  put  his  hand  upon  his 
forehead  and  move  it  down  over  his  face,  and  he  would 
order  them  to  the  guard  house  for  further  examination, 
without  any  further  words  being  said  at  the  time. 

Many  of  the  rebels  who  were  taking  the  oath  couldn't 
see  how  he  could  draw  a  line  between  the  different  persons; 
let  some  take  the  oath  and  be  released  at  once,  and  others 
ordered  to  the  guard  house  without  a  word  being  spoken. 
Among  the  persons  who  came  in  and  took  the  oath  and 
were  released,  was  the  man  who  was  present  at  the  time 
Capt.  Forshee  attempted  to  deliver  the  author  to  the  mob, 
who  asked  the  Captain  at  the  time  to  tie  the  author  with 
his  face  to  a  tree,  and  let  him  shoot  him  in  the  back  of  the 
head,  to  show  him  how  he  could  spoil  a  black  Republican's 
pate. 

The  author  remembers  one  incident  that  occurred  dur 
ing  the  stay  at  West  Plains.  A  man  named  Lusk,  who  was 
constable  of  Howell  township,  and  resided  in  West  Plains, 
was  a  strong  Union  man  at  the  beginning  of  the  war;  when 
the  general  order  was  made  that  every  man  who  had  been 
a  Union  man  had  to  join  the  Confederate  service  and  show 
his  colors  or  be  hung,  Lusk  enlisted  in  the  Confederate 
army  and  went  out  with  McBride's  command. 


96  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Three  or  four  days  after  the  capture  of  the  author  by 
the  rebels,  Lusk  came  up  to  him  in  a  braggadocio  manner 
and  sa}Ts,  "You  ought  to  have  your  black  heart  shot  out  of 
you."  Lusk  hacl  taken  the  oath  and  been  released  before 
the  'author  reached  West  Plains.  The  author  met  him  in 
West  Plains  and  remarked  to  him:  "Hallo,  Lusk!  How 
are  you  getting  along?  And  what  are  you  doing  here?" 
He  replied  that  he  had  taken  the  oath ;  that  he  was  tired  of 
fighting.  The  author  asked  him  if  he  felt  like  he  did  when 
he  wanted  to  shoot  his  black  heart  out.  Lusk  replied : 
"Captain,  I  am  sorry  for  what  I  did,  and  Captain  Emmons 
so  maltreated  me  the  other  day  that  I  could  scarcely  sit  in 
my  saddle."  The  author  remarked  to  him:  "I  will  just 
give  your  face  three  good  slaps  with  my  hand."  After 
giving  him  three  raps,  the  author  let  him  pass. 

Lusk  Sees  Some  Lopeared  Dutch. 

Soon  meeting  Captain  Emmons,  who  belonged  to  the 
6th  Missouri  Cavalry,  had  asked  him  what  the  trouble  was 
between  him  and  Lusk.  He  said  that  while  he  was 
prsoner  Lusk  came  to  him  with  his  big  knife  belted 
around  him,  and  said  that  he  was  just  equal  to  ten  lopear- 
ed  Dutch  and  he  had  that  knife  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
ten  Dutch  scalps  before  he  returned  home,  and  otherwise 
abused  him  for  being  a  Union  man  and  a  friend  to  the 
Dutch. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  troops  in  West  Plains  he  inquir 
ed  of  the  citizens  if  Lusk  had  returned  home.  Thej^  in 
formed  him  that  he  had  and  was  residing  on  Spring  Creek, 
about  six  miles  from  town.  About  half  of  Emmons'  com 
pany  were  Germans.  He  went  immediately  to  his  com 
pany,  ordered  the  Orderly  Sargeant  to  make  detail  of  ten 
men  and  he  wanted  them  all  to  be  Germans.  He  ordered 
them  to  be  mounted  and  ready  for  a  scout  at  once.  Tak- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  97 

ing  charge  of  them  in  person  he  proceeded  to  the  house  of 
Lusk,  about  six  miles  west  of  West  Plains  at  the  head  of 
Spring  Creek,  rode  up  to  the  house  and  holloed.  Lusk 
immediately  came  out  into  the  yard  and  recognized  Dr. 
Emmons  and  said  "O!  Doctor!  Is  that  you?  I  am  proud 
to  see  you."  The  Doctor  said  to  him,  I  am  proud  to  see  you, 
too."  The  Doctor  at  once  informed  him  of  what  he  had 
said  to  him  when  he  was  a  prisoner  in  regard  to  being 
equal  to  ten  lopeared  Dutchmen  and  how  he  had  his  knife 
prepared  to  take  that  number  of  scalps  before  he  came 
back  home,  and  wanted  to  know  if  he  got  the  scalps  be 
fore  he  came  home.  Lusk  replied  that  if  he  killed  a  single 
Dutchmen  he  didn't  know  it  ancl  that  he  got  ail  of  the 
fighting  that  he  wanted,  didn't  want  to  fight  any  more. 

The  Doctor  wanted  to  know  if  he  ever  saw  any  lop- 
eard  Dutch  and  Lusk  replied  that  he  "didn't  know  that  he 
had."  The  Doctor  replied,  "I  have  selected,  ten  of  the 
smallest  sized  of  the  full  stock  and  I  want  you  to::step  over, 
the  fence  and  view  them."  He  then  ordered  the.. scouts- to 
dismount  and  form  in  line.  Lusk  told  the.  Doctor  he 
didn't  want  anything  to  do  with  them  whatever.  After 
they  had  formed,  a  line  the-; Doctor  made  him  step  fn  front , 
and  view  them ;  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  them.  -,  He 
said  "They  are  good  looking  men."  The  .Doctor  said  to 
him,  '  If  you  didn't  get  the  chance  when  you  were  out  in 
the  service  to  fight  ten  of  them/  and  you  say  you  didn't 
get  any  scalps,  I  have  brought  these  ten  clown  and  intend 
that  you  shall  fight  them."  Lusk  pleaded  with  the  Doctor 
that  he  didn't  want  to  fight  them  and  for  God's  sake  not  to 
let  them  hurt  him.", -. Emmons- said  to  him  "Why  Lusk! 
you  said  you  were  equal  rotten  of  them  and  intended  to 
bring  back  ten  of  their  scalps  and  there  will  be  nothing 
now  unfair  about  this  fight.  I  intend  to  give  you  a  fair 


98  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

show."      He  ordered  Lusk  to  get  his  horse  and  get  onto   it 
and  get  ready  to  march. 

There  were  some  four -foot  clapboards  stacked  up  near 
Lusk's  house,  and  Emmons  ordered  six  of  the  Germans  to 
get  a  board  apiece.  They  were  all  soon  mounted  and  mov 
ing  toward  West  Plains,  soon  coming  to  a  "horsen"  log. 
Emrnons  ordered  them  to  dismount  and  form  a  line,  plac 
ing  the  men  about  ten  paces  from  Lusk,  then  said  to  Lusk, 
^Now,  prepare  yourself,  and  if  you  can  whip  these  ten  lop- 
eared  Dutch  I  will  let  you  go  back  home  and  give  you  a 
chromo."  Lusk  pleaded  pitifully  to  not  let  the  Dutch 
abuse  him.  Emmons  ordered  the  six  who  had  the  clap 
boards  to  move  one  pace  in  the  rear,  leaving  four  of  the 
number  to  attack  Lusk;  he  then  ordered  the  four  men 
to  seize  Lusk,  take  him  to  the  "horsen"  log  and  take 
down  his  clothes.  Two  of  them  were  to  take  him  by  the 
hands  and  two  by  the  legs  and  buck  him  tight  against  the 
log;  if  they  succeeded,  the  six  would  proceed,  one  at  a 
time,  and  strike  him  three  licks  across  that  part  of  the  body 
that  he  generally  used  for  sitting  on. 

He  then  turned  to  Lusk,  saying,  "Prepare  to  meet 
them ;  if  you  are  a  better  man  than  they  are,  down  them 
and  pile  them  up."  At  the  command  of  Capt.  Emmons, 
the  four  men  advanced  on  Lusk,  who  did  not  attempt  to 
move,  seized  him  by  the  arms,  led  him  to  the  log,  bucked 
him  over  it,  two  holding  him  by  the  arms  and  two  by  the 
legs,  ordered  the  six  men  to  advance,  one  at  a  time,  strike 
three  licks  with  the  flat  side  of  the  board,  march  on  a  few 
paces  and  give  room  for  the  next. 

After  the  performance  had  been  completely  carried  out 
as  commanded,  the  Captain  declared  that  he  could  have 
heard  Lusk  holloing  a  mile  distant  every  time  the  clap 
board  hit  him. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  99 

After  he  had  received  the  boarding,  Emmons  said  that 
Lusk's  setter  was  blistered  where  the  boards  had  hit  him, 
and  that  he  never  saw  ten  Germans  enjoy  themselves  as 
much  in  his  life.  He  then  asked  Lusk,  in  their  presence, 
how  he  felt  now  in  regard  to  righting  lopeared  Dutch. 
Lusk  declared  that  he  had  nothing  against  the  Dutch  and 
that  he  never  would  want  to  fight  another  one  as  long  as 
he  lived,  and  he  hoped  that  Dr.  Emmons  would  not 
let  them  do  him  any  more  harm.  He  dressed  himself,  they 
were  all  mounted,  formed  a  line,  and  Lusk  was  brought 
into  West  Plains  and  took  the  oath,  under  the  promise  that 
he  never  would  fight  another  lop-eared  Dutchman. 

Goes  to  Washington  City. 

After  the  post  was  discontinued  at  West  Plains,  the 
author  was  again  ordered  back  to  Rolla.  The  state  had 
made  a  proposition  to  the  Federal  authorities  that  if  the 
government  would  arm,  feed  and  clothe  the  troops,  it  could 
place  a  number  of  regiments  of  state  troops  in  the  service, 
and  they  would  be  able  to  send  some  of  their  regular  troops 
to  the  front.  A  delegation  was  appointed  by  the  state  to 
visit  Washington  City,  wait  upon  the  President  and  see 
what  the  government  could  do  for  the  state.  The  author 
was  appointed  as  one  of  the  delegates,  and  on  the  night 
following  the  departure  of  the  delegation  for  Washington 
City,  a  rebel  scout  appeared  at  the  house  where  the  auth 
or's  family  was  living  and  demanded  the  author.  His  wife 
replied  that  he  was  not  at  home,  that  he  was  one  of  the 
delegation  that  had  left  that  morning  for  Washington  City. 
She  distinctly  heard  one  man  remark:  ''I  expect  that  is 
so,  for  there  was  a  delegation  left  this  morning  for  Wash 
ington  City."  The  house  wasn't  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  picket  posts. 


100  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

After  parleying  for  some  little  time,  they  left  the  house, 
marched  west  about  a  mile,  where  some  refugees  were  lo 
cated  in  a  house,  and  demanded  their  surrender.  The  house 
was  full  of  women  and  children,  there  being  also  one  boy 
and  two  men,  to- wit:  Peter  Shriver  and  a  man  named 
Johnson.  They  ordered  the  doors  opened;  the  inmates 
refused;  then  the  rebels  knocked  down  the  door,  and  fired 
a  volley  right  into  the  house.  Shriver  and  Johnson  being 
armed,  returned  the  fire,  killed  one  of  the  rebels  on  the 
spot,  and  fleeing  through  the  rear  part  of  the  house,  made 
their  escape.  The  rebels  killed  one  boy  and  severely 
wounded  a  girl  and  young  Johnson,  and  retreated  south, 
leaving  their  comrade  dead. 

It  was  learned  afterwards  that  most  of  the  scout 
were  men  from  Ho\vell  county  who  had  learned  that  the 
author  had  placed  his  family  just  outside  of  the  Federal 
lines  and  had  marched  all  the  way  there,  with  the  avowed 
purpose  of  capturing  the  author  and  either  shooting  or 
hanging  him. 

On  arrival  of  the  delegation  at  Washington  City  they 
organized  the  delegation  and  made  Chas.  D.  Drake  their 
spokesman.  He  was  afterwards  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate.  Soon  after  the  arrival  President  Lincoln 
informed  us  that  he  would  be  prepared  to  meet  the  dele 
gation  in  a  large  hall  ,11  ear  the  mansion,  at  which  time  and 
place  he  desired  to  be  introduced  to  the  whole  delegation. 
When  the  delegation  entered  the  hall  the  President  and 
his  secretary  were  seated  together. 

The  Delegation  Meets  the  President. 

The  delegation  entered  the  hall  in  a  single  file.  Chas. 
D.  Drake  approached  the  President  and  when  within  a  few 
feet  oOhe  President  and  secretary,  they  arose  to  their 
feet  and  as  the  delegation  marched  by  each  one  was  intro- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  101 

duced  to  them.  Afterwards  they  were  seated,  and  the 
petition  and  address  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Mis 
souri  was  delivered  in  an  audible  voice  by  Chas.  D. 
Drake.  In  the  opening  of  the  address  wa  addressed  the 
President  and  called  ourselves  his  friends. 

As  soon  as  the  address  was  read  the  President  rose  to 
his  feet  and  proceeded  to  deliver  an  address  to  the  delega 
tion  and  the  author  never  will  forget  the  impression  that 
was  made  upon  his  mind  in  a  part  of  that  address.  He 
said:  "You  should  not  address  me  as  your  friend;  I  am 
the  President  of  the  whole  people  and  nation  and  while 
I  am  President,  I  expect  to  try  to  enforce  the  law  against 
all  violators  of  law  and  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  people 
of  the  nation;  but  if  I  have  any  friends  in  Missouri  I  sus 
pect  you  men  compose  a  part  of  them.  I  listened  to  your 
petition  and  offers,  which  make  me  proud  for  the  patriot 
ism  that  you  manifest,  in  offering  your  services  to  your 
country  in  the  darkest  hour  of  her  peril  and  I  would  be 
glad  if  the  government  was  able  to  grant  every  request 
that  you  have  made.  The  government  at  the  present 
time  is  not  in  a  condition  to  furnish  clothing  and  com 
missaries  for  the  number  of  men  that  you  propose  to  put 
in  the  field,  but  the  government  will  furnish  all  the  arms 
that  they  can  possibly  spare,  amunitions  and  commissaries 
and  authorize  the  state  to  organize  and  put  in  the  field  any 
number  of  state  troops,  not  to  exceed  sixty  regiments. 
He  said  he  would  do  all  in  his  power  to  feed  them  but  in 
the  present  condition  of  the  government  the  state  would 
have  to  pay  them. 

The  delegation  returned  and  informed  the  state  of 
what  promises  the  government  had  made  and  at  once  went 
tc  organizing  and  putting  state  troops  into  the  field.  The 
author  was  commissioned  as  lieutenant  of  Company  H.  and 
the  regiment  was  ordered  into  acttve  service  for  the  period 


102  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

of  sixty  days.  At  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  service,  the 
government  ordered  that  a  company  of  scouts  be  organiz 
ed  and  that  the  author  be  made  Captain  of  the  company, 
to  receive  first  lieutenant's  pay  and  be  clothed  and  fed  by 
the  goverment,  be  ordered  on  duty  at  once  and  placed 
under  the  direct  command  of  Captain  Murphy,  who  was 
then  commanding  the  post  at  Houston. 

The  company  scarcely  saw  an  idle  day,  it  was  kept 
continuously  scouting  and  fighting.  The  counties  of 
Texas,  Dent,  Wright,  Crawford,  LaClede  and  Phelps, 
outside  of  the  post,  being  completely  under  the 
control  of  the  rebels.  Not  a  single  Union  man  nor  his 
family  could  remain  at  home  outside  of  the  post. 

Incidents  of  18-63. 

In  the  fall  of  1863,  Colonel  Livingston,  who  was  act 
ing  in  the  capacity  of  Brigadier  General,  was  ordered  to 
proceed  to  Batesville,  Arkansas,  and  there  erect  a  post. 
The  author  was  transferred,  by  order  of  the  government, 
and  made  chief  of  scouts  receiving  Captain's  pay  and  or 
dered  to  move  with  the  command  of  Colonel  Livingston 
and  be  under  his  command  and  control  until  further 
orders.  On  or  about  December  15,  1863,  Colonel  Living 
ston,  who  was  Colonel  of  the  1st  Nebraska  regiment  and 
the  llth  Missouri  Cavalry  regiment,  broke  camp  at  Rolla, 
and  marched  in  the  direction  of  Batesville,  Arkansas. 
Colonel  Livingston,  on  leaving  Rolla,  issued  a  general 
order  and  sent  the  same  in  all  directions,  that  all  rebels, 
or  "bushwhackers,"  who  were  captured  wearing  Federal 
uniform,  would  be  courtmartialed  and  shot;  or  all  per 
sons  who  were  captured  in  robbing  or  plundering  houses 
would  be  court-martialed  and  shot. 

On  our  arrival  at  West  Plains  the  advance  of  the  com 
mand  captured  three  Confederates  dressed  in  Federal  uni- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  103 

forms,  near  what  was  known  as  the  Johnson  farm.  One  of 
them  broke  from  custody  and  escaped ;  the  other  two  were 
court-martialed  and  shot,  while  the  command  was  camped 
at  West  Plains.  After  those  men  were  shot,  some  of  the 
Confederates,  dressed  in  Federal  uniforms,  came  inside  the 
Federal  lines,  while  in  camp  at  West  Plains,  just  after  dark, 
and  took  nine  black  cavalry  horses  from  the  line  and  made 
their  escape.  The  soldiers  saw  them  take  the  horses,  but 
thought  it  was  their  own  men  taking  them  to  water. 

The  command,  breaking  camp  at  West  Plains,  marched 
in  the  direction  of  Batesville,  passed  through  Salem,  Ark., 
and  on  Big  Strawberry  encountered  the  rebels  and  had  quite 
an  engagement.  The  weather  was  quite  cold.  I  remem 
ber  that  after  the  fighting  ceased,  some  of  the  soldiers  had 
been  fighting  with  their  revolvers,  and  their  hands  had  be 
come  so  benumbed  that  they  had  lost  the  use  of  their  fing 
ers,  and  couldn't  return  their  revolvers  to  their  scabbards, 
and  the  revolvers  had  to  be  taken  from  their  hands ;  the 
hands  of  some  of  them  were  badly  frost-bitten. 

The  command  again  renewed  its  march  for  Batesville. 
Small  bands  of  bushwhackers  and  rebels  kept  up  a  contin 
uous  fire  everyday  on  the  advance,  and  committed  depre 
dations  by  pillaging;  claiming  they  were  Federal  forces, 
most  of  them  being  dressed  in  Federal  uniforms.  The  pil 
laging  grew  so  annoying  that  Col.  Livingston,  just  before 
breaking  camp,  divided  the  advance  into  two  columns, 
marching  from  a  mile  to  two  and  a  half  miles  apart.  Late 
in  the  afternoon,  one  w7ing  came  onto  a  number  of  those  ir 
regular  Confederates,  or  bushwhackers,  robbing  the  house 
of  a  Union  woman  whose  husband  was  in  the  Federal  army. 
Nearly  all  of  them  were  dressed  in  Federal  uniforms,  claim 
ing  to  the  woman  to  be  Federal  soldiers.  They  had  all 
dismounted  and  gone  into  the  house  to  plunder  it,  except 
their  captain,  Elliott,  whom  they  had  left  on  guard.  The 


104  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

road  came  around  in  a  short  bend  and  concealed  the  ap 
proach  of  the  Federals  until  they  were  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  the  house.  There  was  a  large  gate  in  front  of  the 
house.  The  woman  was  standing  in  the  yard  about  ten 
steps  from  the  gate.  She  saw  the  troops  coming  before 
they  were  discovered  by  the  captain,  and  supposed  them 
to  be  of  the  same  command.  They  were  all  cavalry.  As 
soon  as  they  saw  the  captain,  they  put  spurs  to  their 
horses,  and  with  revolvers  in  hand,  charged  upon  them. 
The  captain  gave  the  alarm,  and  fled  as  rapidly  as  possible 
on  horseback,  a  part  of  the  Federals  in  hot  pursuit  after 
him. 

Every  avenue  of  escape  was  cut  off  from  those  who 
were  in  the  house,  and  they  were  forced  to  retreat  through 
a  ten -acre  open  field,  before  they  could  reach  the  timber. 
The  woman  of  the  house,  seeing  them  flee,  knew  at  once 
that  they  didn't  belong  to  the  same  command.  While  the 
Federals  were  approaching  the  gate  at  full  speed,  she  ran 
to  it  and  threw  it  open,  so  that  they  would  not  be  checked 
in  their  pursuit.  They  overtook  them  about  two -thirds  of 
the  way  across  the  field,  as  the  rebels  were  cut  off  from 
their  horses  and  were  on  foot.  Three  of  the  rebels  were 
killed,  and  three  taken  prisoners.  They  had  everything  in 
their  possession — bed  clothing,  domestic,  knives  and  forks, 
and  even  axes,  that  they  had  been  taking  from  Confederates 
as  well  as  from  Unionists  ;  also  a  number  of  women's  dresses. 
All  of  the  dresses  were  given  to  the  woman  whose  house  they 
were  robbing  at  the  time  of  their  capture.  The  soldiers 
had  a  fine  time  after  they  reached  camp,  by  turning  the 
domestic  into  new  towels. 

Just  after  supper,  the  author  was  notified  to  appear  at 
the  provost  marshal's  office,  to  see  whether  or  not  he  could 
identify  the  prisoners.  On  his  appearing  and  entering  into 
conversation  with  the  prisoners  and  inquiring  their  names, 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  105 

one  claimed  to  be  named  Smith,  another  Taylor  and  the 
other  Johnson.  One  of  them  lisped  a  little  when  talking. 
The  author  soon  recognized  one  of  them  and  said  to  him : 
"Your  name  is  not  Smith.  You  had  just  as  well  give  your 
proper  name,  for  I  know  you."  The  Provost  Marshal 
asked  him  if  he  knew  the  author.  He  hesitated  to  answer. 
On  the  Provost  Marshal  urging  him  to  answer,  he  said: 
"I  ought  to  know  him,  as  he  was  one  of  my  near  neighbors 
when  the  war  commenced.  My  name  is  Calvin  Hawkins. " 
The  author  replied,  "That  is  correct,"  and  turning  to  the 
other  prisoner  for  a  second  look,  recognized  him.  He  re 
marked,  "Taylor  is  not  your  proper  name."  The  Provost 
Mashal  asked  him  if  he  knew  the  author.  He  hesitatingly 
replied  that  he  did.  His  proper  name  was  then  demanded, 
which  he  gave  as  Jacob  Bridges.  The  other  was  a  boy 
named  Hankins,  13  years  of  age. 

Court  Martialed  and  Shot. 

The  Provost  Marshal  asked  them  if  they  had  ever  read 
or  heard  of  the  general  order  that  had  been  issued  by  Col. 
Livingston.  They  replied  that  they  had.  He  said  to 
them:  "You  have  violated  the  order  in  every  particular; 
you  are  wearing  Federal  uniforms,  and  have  been  caught 
robbing  and  pillaging  citizens'  houses.  Tonight  your  cases 
will  be  submitted  to  a  court  martial,  except  the  boy's. ' '  He 
then  ordered  the  author  to  take  them  to  a  room  and  inform 
them  that  they  would  certainly  be  convicted  by  the  court 
martial,  and  the  only  way  they  could  escape  death  would 
be  to  give  the  rendezvous  and  names  of  all  irregular  troops 
in  their  knowledge,  and  agree  to  pilot  a  scout  to  the  differ 
ent  places  of  resort. 

The  author  informed  them  of  what  the  Provost  Mar 
shal  had  said,  and  further  informed  them  that  Col.  Living 
ston,  then  acting  in  the  capacity  of  Brigadier  General, 


106  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

would  have  the  only  power  to  commute  their  sentences, 
after  they  were  convicted.  They  refused  to  give  any  in 
formation  that  would  aid  the  authorities  in  capturing  the 
different  irregular  roving  bands.  The  author  bade  them 
good-bye,  told  them  he  was  sorry  for  them,  that  they  were 
in  a  bad  condition,  but  had  brought  it  upon  themselves  and 
each  of  them  had  better  prepare  for  death,  for  they  were 
certain  to  be  court-martialed  that  night.  He  then  left  the 
prisoners,  the  guard  taking  charge  of  them.  The  court- 
martial  convened  that  night ;  charges  and  specifications 
were  preferred  before  the  Judge  Advocate  of  violating  both 
orders.  They  were  accordingly  convicted,  and  the  next 
morning,  before  we  broke  camp,  the  author  saw  the  detail 
that  had  been  selected  to  execute  them ;  saw  the  pris  - 
oners  under  guard  moving  out  to  the  place  selected  for  the 
execution,  heard  the  discharge  of  the  guns,  and  soon 
learned  that  they  both  had  been  shot.  Somewhere  on  the 
head  of  Big  Strawberry,  in  Izard  county,  the  boy's  mother 
came  to  us,  and  he  was  turned  over  to  her. 

The  command  broke  camp  and  proceeded  on  the  way 
towards  Batesville,  with  more  or  less  skirmishing  with  the 
rebels  every  day;  and  on  the  25th  of  December,  1863,  we 
had  come  to  within  about  three  miles  of  Batesville,  Inde 
pendence  county,  the  rebels  in  considerable  force  then 
being  in  possession  of  the  city.  They  had  a  strong  picket 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  main  city,  leading  right 
down  Poke  bayou.  Another  road  turned  to  the  right  and 
entered  the  lower  part  of  the  city.  The  commander  halted 
and  threw  out  a  considerable  force  in  advance.  The  author 
was  placed  right  in  the  front  of  the  advance,  with  orders  to 
charge  the  pickets,  and  on  their  retreat,  to  charge  the  en 
emy,  and  if  they  found  them  in  too  strong  a  force  to  fall 
back  on  the  main  command. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  107 

The  rebel  ladies  had  procured  a  large  hall  in  the  city, 
situated  upon  High  street,  leading  west  through  the  city. 
They  were  all  dressed  in  gray,  and  had  any  amount  of  egg 
nog  and  other  delicious  drinks  in  the  hall  and  all  through 
the  public  parts  of  the  city.  A  large  number  of  the  Con 
federate  soldiers  were  in  the  hall  dancing,  a  number  of 
them  belonging  to  Col.  Freeman's  command.  On  reaching 
the  rebel  pickets,  they  fired,  and  the  commander  ordered  a 
charge  with  revolver  and  saber,  and  we  followed  close  upon 
their  heels.  On  reaching  the  city,  the  firing  became  pro 
miscuous.  The  rebels  retreated  south,  a  number  of  them 
retreating  in  the  direction  of  White  river,  and  swam  the 
river  with  their  horses,  while  many  of  them  abandoned 
their  horses  and  swam  the  river.  One  part  of  the  rebel 
command  filed  to  the  right,  thinking  that  it  was  a  Federal 
scout,  and  attempted  to  retreat  upon  the  lower  road.  The 
Federals  saw  them  coming,  and  knew  from  their  actions 
that  they  were  retreating.  They  at  once  deployed  two  lines 
in  front  of  the  command,  one  on  each  side  of  the  road.  Be 
fore  the  rebels  found  out  their  real  condition  they  were 
completely  into  the  trap,  and  they  surrendered  without 
the  firing  of  a  gun. 

How  Received  by  the  Batesville  Ladies. 

After  the  fighting  had  subsided,  the  author,  with  a 
part  of  the  command,  rode  up  High  street  to  the  hall  where 
they  had  just  been  dancing.  There  must  have  been  as 
many  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  or  three  hundred  ladies  in 
the  hall  and  on  the  roof .  Some  of  the  boys  dismounted, 
went  up  into  the  hall  and  drank  some  of  their  eggnog, 
although  there  were  strict  orders  against  it. 

The  main  command  reached  the  east  end  of  High 
street,  marching  in  a  solid  column  of  two,  with  a  brass  band 
and  drums  and  fifes  playing,  and  striking  up  the  tune  of 


108  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

" Yankee  Doodle,"  they  came  marching  down  High  street, 
in  the  direction  of  the  hall.  The  women  began  to  use  the 
strongest  epithets  possible  in  their  vocabulary  against  the 
Union  soldiers,  calling  them  "nigger  lovers,"  "lopeared 
Dutch,"  "thieves"  and  "murderers."  The  author  spoke 
to  them  saying,  "You  are  mistaken.  These  men  are  gen 
tlemen,  sent  here  by  the  government  to  establish  a  military 
post,  and  if  you  treat  them  nicely  you  will  receive  the  same 
kind  of  treatment." 

About  this  time  the  front  of  the  command  had  moved 
up  to  the  hall.  At  once  a  number  of  the  ladies  began  to 
make  mouths  at  them  and  spit  over  the  banisters  toward 
them,  calling  them  vile  names.  The  soldiers  then  began 
to  hallo  at  the  top  of  their  voices:  "O,  yonder  is  my 
Dixie  girl,  the  one  that  I  marched  away  from  the  north  to 
greet."  "God  bless  their  little  souls,  ain't  they  sweet; 
sugar  wouldn't  melt  in  their  mouths."  ''l  am  going  to  get 
my  bandbox  and  cage  up  one  of  the  sweet  little  morsels  and 
take  her  home  for  a  pet." 

The  voices  of  the  soldiers  completely  drowned  the 
hearing  of  anything  the  women  were  saying.  In  a  little 
while  the  women  hushed.  As  the  column  was  passing  by, 
one  of  the  women  remarked,  "I  believe  that  gentleman 
gave  us  good  advice ;  I  think  we  had  better  stop  our  abuse 
and  we  will  be  treated  better."  We  marched  down  to  the 
west  end  of  High  street,  marched  across  to  the  next  main 
street,  then  the  head  of  the  column  turned  east  again  up 
Main  street,  and  striking  up  the  tune  of  "Hail,  Columbia, 
My  Happy  Land,"  marched  up  to  the  east  end  of  Main 
street,  and  ordered  a  guard  placed  around  the  whole  town, 
to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  rebel  soldiers  that  were  con 
cealed  in  the  town.  The  author  never  saw  as  much  con 
fusion  as  there  was  there,  for  a  short  time,  among  the  citi 
zens,  especially  the  women.  Some  were  laughing,  some 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  109 

w^re  abusing  the  soldiers,  some  crying,  and  some  cursing. 

After  things  had  quieted  down  the  soldiers  went  into 
camp.  Colonel  Livingston  began  to  hunt  suitable  build 
ings  for  his  head  quarters  and  for  an  office  for  the  Provost 
Marshall  and  Judge  Advocate.  It  became  a  fixed  fact 
with  the  citizens  of  the  city  that  the  Federals  were  going 
to  locate  a  permanent  post  at  that  place. 

While  they  were  in  pursuit  of  the  rebels  the  author 
remembered  an  incident  that  attracted  his  attention. 
There  were  four  or  five  negro  men  standing  upon  the  street 
corner  and  one  of  the  officers  holloed  out  to  the  negroes; 
"Which  way  did  the  rebels  go?"  On  one  corner  of  the 
street  there  was  a  bunch  of  rebel  citizens  standing  and  as 
soon  as  the  corner  was  turned  and  they  were  out  of  sight 
of  the  rebel  citizens  they  answered  the  officer,  "Massa, 
we  don't  know  which  way  the  rebels  went;  one  of  them 
dodged  around  the  corner  in  an  instant,  and  in  alow  tone 
of  voice,  and  with  a  motion  of  his  hand,  said,  "Massa  dey 
went  right  dat  way,"  almost  in  an  instant  came  back 
around  the  corner  and  said  in  hearing  of  the  rebel  citizens 
"Massa,  I  declare  I  don't  know  trie  way  dem  rebels  went." 

The  next  morning  Livingston  issued  a  general  order 
for  all  persons  who  claimed  protection  'from  the  Federal 
army  to  come  in  and  report  and  take  the  oath.  The  author 
remembers  an  incident  that  occurred  on  the  evening  of  'the 
fight.  There  had  been  two  or  three  men  killed  just  across 
the  brige  and  they  placed  a  guard  there  with  orders  to  let 
no  person  eross  it  without  a  pass.  Shortly  after  dark 
a  young  lady  who  had  secreted  around  her  wTaist  under 
her  clothes,  two  pistols,  a  belt  and  scabbard  which  be 
longed  to  a  Confederate  soldier,  just  after  dark"  came  to 
the  bridge  and  wanted  to  cross.  The  sargeant  of  the  guard 
ask  her  if  she  had  a  pass,  to  which  she  replied  that  she 
had  not.  He  informed  her  that  he  could  not  let  her  go 


110  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

over.  Among  the  guards  was  an  Irshman  and  the  young 
lady  remarked  to  the  sargeaut  that  "it  was  very  hard" 
that  she  "had  a  relative  that  was  killed  just  across  the 
bridge  and  she  wanted  to  go  over  and  see  him  and  that  a 
woman  couldn't  do  any  harm  and  they  might  let  her  go 
over  without  a  pass." 

The  Irshman  sprang  to  his  feet  and  remarked  "Be 
Jasus,  women  can  do  a  divil  of  a  sight  of  harm,  can  con 
vey  more  information,  can  carry  more  intelligence  through 
the  lines  to  the  rebels  than  twenty  men  and  there  are  so 
many  of  our  officers,  if  she  happens  to  be  good  looking, 
would  let  her  pass  through.  The  sargeant  believing 
that  she  was  a  near  relative  of  one  of  the  men  that  was 
killed  a  short  distance  from  the  bridge,  let  her  pass  over, 
and  that  night  she  delivered  the  pistols  to  the  Confederate 
soldiers.  She  afterwards  admitted  this  when  she  was  ar 
rested  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath. 

If  You  Will  Grease  and  Butter  Him. 

Shedeclared  that  she  "wouldn't  swallow  old  Lincoln." 
and  the  commander  ordered  all  persona  who  refused  to  take 
the  oath,  either  men  or  women,  arrested  and  sent  to 
Little  Rock.  When  she  found  that  she  had  to  take  the 
oath  or  go  to  Little  Rock,  she  said  to  them  that  "if  they 
would  grease  and  butter  the  oath  she  would  try  to  swallow 
it."  Afterwards  she  became  very  intimate  with  one  of  the 
young  Federals,  married  him  and  when  the  command 
broke  up  left  the  post,  left  the  country  and  went  with  him. 

The  author  remained  there  all  that  winter,  being  in 
active  service  almost  every  day,  capturing  some  of  the 
worst  men  that  there  were  in  the  country.  In  a  short 
time  after  the  post  was  located  the  west  side  of  the  river 
was  all  in  the  control  of  the  rebels.  The  rebels  began  to 
boast  and  brag  that  those  Northern  Yankees  could  stay 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  111 

around  the  open  field  and  around  cities  but  whenever  they 
crossed  the  river  they  would  show  them  just  how  rebel 
bullets  would  fly.  Colonel  Freeman's  head  quarters  were 
near  the  head  of  Silamore  creek,  they  would  get  on  the 
mountains,  on  each  side  (as  the  Yankees  knew  nothing 
about  mountains)  and  roll  rocks  down  on  them  and  what 
they  didn't  kill  with  rocks  and  bullets  would  be  glad  to 
get  back  across  the  river  to  Batesville. 

There  were  no  ferry  boats  on  the  river,  they  had  all 
been  sunk  or  run  out  by  the  rebels. 

The  weather  was  very  cold.  White  river  froze  over 
solid.  The  old  residents  there  said  it  was  the  first  time 
they  ever  knew  of  the  river  freezing  over  solid.  The  ice 
was  so  thick  that  it  would  hold  the  weight  of  horses  and 
wagons.  Col.  Livingston  ordered  lumber  hauled  and  laid 
the  planks  flat  on  the  ice.  He  then  sent  some  men  who 
resided  in  Nebraska  when  at  home,  to  make  a  test.  They 
reported  that  the  ice  was  safe  for  a  command  to  pass  over. 
The  commander  at  once  organized  a  force,  crossed  the 
river  on  the  ice,  and  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  the  pur 
pose  of  attacking  Freeman's  forces,  which  were  distant 
about  ten  or  twelve  miles.  As  soon  as  the  rebel  forces 
found  that  they  were  moving  up  Silamore  creek  in  the  di 
rection  of  Freeman's  headquarters,  they  placed  men  on  the 
hills  on  each  side  of  the  creek,  and  as  soon  as  the  Federal 
forces  came  within  reach,  they  opened  fire,  and  commenced 
rolling  stones.  The  commander  halted,  deployed  skirmish 
ers,  ordered  them  to  fall  back,  march  on  foot  and  flank  the 
rebels,  while  they  would  continue  the  march  up  the  creek 
and  attract  their  attention  until  they  would  have  them  com 
pletely  flanked,  and  then  close  in  on  them.  While  the 
main  force  moved  up  the  creek  slowly,  under  almost  con 
tinuous  fire,  all  at  once  a  general  fire  opened  up  on  both 
sides  of  the  hills.  I  never  before  saw  rebels  running  and 


112  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

dodging  in  all  directions,  trying  to  make  their  escape,  as 
they  did  then.  A  number  of  them  were  killed  and  wound 
ed,  and  the  others  taken  prisoners.  The  remainder  got 
down  from  the  hills,  wiser  men,  and  made  a  hasty  retreat 
up  the  creek.  Upon  the  Federal  column  reaching  the 
headquarters  of  Freeman,  it  was  so  unexpected  that  he  had 
to  retreat,  leaving  all  his  camp  equipage,  his  trunk  and 
clothing,  and  about  $5,000  in  Confederate  money. 

They  retreated  in  an  almost  northerly  direction.  Our 
force  returned  to  Batesville.  The  scouts,  with  a  small 
force  of  troops,  were  sent  up  White  river  to  'find  where  the 
line  of  march  of  the  rebels  was.  They  found  that  they  had 
crossed  White  river  near  the  mouth  of  the  north  fork  and 
were  moving  in  the  direction  of  Pocahontas.  There  had 
been  two  Federal  companies  detailed  and  sent  out  north 
east  in  the  direction  of ••  Spring  river-,  v  Freeman's  command 
surrou'ndecl  them  and  made  prisoners  of  one  of  the  compa 
nies.  The  other  company,  conitiianded- by  Capt.  Majors, 
made  a  charge  on  the  lines  and  cut  their  way  through. 

Reinforcements  were  at  once  dispatched  in  the  direction 
of  the  moving  columns  of  rebels.  '  In  the  meantime,  the 
rebels  had  reached  Pocahontas,  oi'i  Blatk*  river,  and  had 
effected  a  crossing  onto  the  east  side  of  Black  river,  except 
the  rear  guard,  which  were  in  their  boat  about  miidway  of 
the  river,  when  the  Federal  forces  reached  the  west  side  of 
the  river.  They  fired  on  the  parties  in  the  boat,  wounding 
some  of  them,  but  they  succeeded  in  reaching  the  bank, 
and  turned  their  boat  loose.  -'"A  strong  line  of  rebels  was 
drawn  up  on  the  east  bank  of  Black  river,  and  opened  fire 
on  the  Federal  forces  on  the  west  side.  After  considerable 
firing,  both  sides  ceased.  -The  rebels  appeared  to  move 
east;  "the  Federal  forces  again"  'countermarched  and  re 
turned  to'4Bstesville.'  •  •  •"• 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  113 

The  country  on  the  west  side  of  White  river  was  still 
under  the  control  of  a  strong  force  of  rebels  commanded  by 
Col.  Weatherford  and  three  or  four  other  Confederate  com 
manders.  About  three  weeks  after  their  return,  an  order 
was  issued  for  two  wagon  trains  with  six  mule  teams  and  a 
detail  of  two  companies,  to  escort  it.  The  train  moved 
out,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  corn  and  other  forage,  about 
fifteen  miles  distant  on  White  river.  After  they  had  ar 
rived  at  their  destination  and  were  loading  their  wagons,  a 
large  force  of  rebels  surrounded  them,  charged  on  them, 
and  made  prisoners  of  about  half  of  the  escort.  The  Fed 
eral  captain,  who  belonged  to  one  of  the  llth  Missouri 
companies,  surrendered,  handed  his  pistol,  about  half 
shot  out,  to  a  rebel  soldier,  who  turned  his  own  pistol 
on  him  and  shot  him  dead.  The  scouts  who  escaped  cap 
ture,  retreated  with  all  possible  haste  to  Batesville. 

In  the  meantime,  the  rebel  forces  cut  the  wagons 
down,  piled  them  in  heaps  and  set  them  on  fire;  while  the 
mules,  with  all  their  gear  and  breeching  on  were  put  into 
White  river  arid  swam  across  to  the  other  side.  As  soon 
as  the  news  reached  headquarters,  a  force  was  speedily 
organized,  and  started  on  a  forced  march.  Upon  reaching 
the  scene  of  action  the  rebels  were  all  safely  across  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river,  harness  and  wagons  were  just 
about  completely  burned  up.  No  chance  of  any  boats  to 
cross  the  river  and  the  river  being  full,  they  counter 
marched  and  returned  to  Batesville  again. 

The  whole  whiter  was  taken  up  in  scouting  and 
fighting  small  bands  of  rebels.  Sometime  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  winter  the  commissaries  and  forage  were  be 
coming  scarce  and  the  nearest  Federal  post  down  White 
river  was  at  Duvall's  bluff.  The  commander  called  on 
the  author,  who  was  Captain  of  scouts,  for  a  detail  of  two 
men  who  could  procure  a  canoe  and  try,  if  possible,  to 


114  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

reach  Dtivall's  Bluff  and  inform  the  Federal  authorities 
there  of  the  conditions  of  the  post.  The  author  detailed  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Johardy  Ware  and  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Simon  Mason.  They  were  to  procure  a  canoe 
and  travel  in  the  night,  drawing  it,  when  daylight  came, 
into  thick  brush,  and  in  that  way,  if  possible,  reach  the 
Federal  post.  They  succeeded  in  reaching  the  post  and 
in  a  short  time  commissaries  and  provisions,  with  forage, 
were  forwarded  up  the  river  on  two  small  transports,  with 
a  number  of  troops  to  force  its  passage  up  the  river.  Some 
time  in  the  latter  part  of  the  winter  the  boats  reached 
Batesville  and  supplied  all  of  the  wants  and  short  rations 
of  the  soldiers  and  again  made  everything  merry  and 
happy. 

Give  an  Oyster  Supper 

In  April,  1864,  the  author  had  promised  to  return  to 
Rolla  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  and  recruiting  a  regiment, 
known  as  the  16th  Missouri  Cavalry  Volunteer.  He  in 
formed  the  commander  and  asked  for  his  recommendation 
which  was  granted.  He  wanted  to  know  when  I  wanted  to 
start  so  that  he  could  make  preparations  to  send  me  around 
by  water.  The  author  informed  him  that  he  intended  to 
march  through  by  land.  The  commander  thought  it  was 
a  thing  impossible,  that  scouting  bands  of  rebels  had  pos 
session  of  the  country,  from  a  short  distance  outside  of 
Batesville  almost  to  Rolla,  Missouri.  The  commander 
and  Provost  Marshall  gave  the  author  an  innovation,  made 
an  oyster  supper  for  him  and  his  company  of  scouts,  said 
they  wrere  loath  to  give  them  up,  that  they  had  performed 
so  much  valuable  service,  and  he  didn't  know  where  he 
could  get  any  other  men  to  take  their  places. 

After  taking  leave  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  the  auth 
or  took  a  small  flag,  fastened  upon  a  staff,  fastenened  it  to 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  115 

the  browband  of  the  bridle  and  remarked  to  the  officers 
as  he  bid  them  good  bye,  that  the  stars  and  stripes  should 
float  from  Batesville  to  Rolla  or  the  author  would  die  in 
the  attempt.  The  company  then  set  out  for  Rolla,  Mis 
souri.  Colonel  Woods  of  the  llth  Missouri  cavalry  had 
been  on  detached  service  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Stevens 
had  been  commanding  the  regiment.  He  had  received 
orders  to  join  his  regiment  at  Batesville,  Arkansas,  and, 
with  a  considerable  force  of  men,  reached  the  state  line 
about  12  o'clock,  and  came  in  sight  of  the  command. 

They  saw  our  company  approaching,  at  once  drew  up 
in  line  of  battle,  and  as  many  of  the  rebels  had  procured 
Federal  uniforms,  both  parties  sent  out  couriers  to  ascertain 
who  the  forces  were.  On  learning  that  both  sides  were 
Federals,  we  marched  up  and  went  into  camp  with  them. 
The  author  was  immediately  taken  to  Col.  Wood's  head 
quarters.  He  informed  him  that  he  had  camped  near  West 
Plains  the  night  before,  and  that  the  bushwhackers  had  kept 
up  a  continuous  fire  until  after  they  got  a  considerable  dis 
tance  down  South  Fork ;  and  he  believed  it  impossible  for 
as  small  a  force  as  I  had  to  reach  Rolla  without  great  dis 
aster  and  perhaps  annihilation.  He  said  that  the  author 
and  his  company  of  scouts  were  the  very  men  he  wanted, 
and  offered  to  increase  his  salary  to  $7.00  per  day  if  he 
would  go  back  with  him  and  remain  with  his  command. 
The  author  told  him  that  he  was  honor  bound  to  return  to 
Missouri  and  assist  in  organizing  a  regiment  of  cavalry  for 
the  United  States  service,  and  if  the  bushwhackers  didn't 
keep  clear,  he  would  give  some  of  them  a  furlough  before 
he  reached  Rolla. 

After  dinner  Woods  broke  camp  and  moved  in  the 
direction  of  Batesville,  and  we  in  the  direction  of  Rolla. 
Near  where  the  last  firing  was  done  they  had  arrested  a 
man  named  Craws,  who  really  was  a  Union  man,  and  the 


116  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

author  had  been  well  acquainted  with  him  before  the  war 
commenced,  but  Woods'  soldiers  could  with  difficulty  be 
restrained  from  shooting  him.  On  my  informing  the  Col 
onel  that  I  was  well  acquainted  with  the  man  and  that  there 
was  no  harm  in  him,  he  agreed  to  turn  him  over  to  the 
author  and  let  him  bring  him  back  home  with  him.  After 
we  had  started,  Craws  inf(  rmed  the  author  that  he 
knew  the  parties  who  had  been  firing  on  the  Federal  troops ; 
that  their  headquarters  were  about  two  miles  from  where  he 
then  resided ;  and  that  he  was  satisfied  from  the  last  firing 
he  had  heard,  that  they  had  turned  off  from  the  main  road 
and  gone  up  what  was  called  the  Newberry  hollow.  After 
passing  the  old  Newberry  farm,  they  had  a  plain  trail  that 
turned  to  the  right  and  led  directly  to  the  camp.  They 
were  commanded  by  two  men  named  Hawkins  and  Yates. 

On  reaching  his  house  he  agreed  to  continue  with  us 
to  the  road  he  thought  they  had  gone,  and  then  return 
home.  I  think  he  was  the  happiest  man  I  ever  saw  when 
he  found  he  had  been  turned  over  to  my  care,  believing 
that  Woods'  command  intended  to  shoot  him. 

On  reaching  the  road,  we  found  a  fresh  rebel  trail 
leading  right  up  the  creek;  we  moved  on  until  near  the 
Newberry  residence,  which  we  had  been  informed  by  Craws 
was  occupied  by  Hawkins'  wife.  We  turned  from  the  road 
and  halted,  and  the  author,  with  two  or  three  of  his  men, 
being  familiar  with  the  country,  reached  a  high  point  from 
which  we  could  distinctly  see  one  horse  standing  at  the 
door.  Supposing  the  rebel  scouts  were  all  there,  we  went 
back  to  the  company,  moved  cautiously  toward  the  house, 
and  gave  orders  to  charge  upon  them  as  soon  as  our  ap 
proach  was  discovered.  On  coming  within  fifty  yards  of 
the  house,  which  was  unenclosed,  a  woman  stepped  outside 
the  door,  looked  toward  us,  and  then  wheeled  for  the  house, 
and  we  charged.  Hawkins'  horse  was  hitched  to  a  half 


AND   NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  117 

of  a  horse  shoe  driven  in  at  the  side  of  the  door,  the  bridle 
rein  looped  over  it,  his  halter  rein  being  already  tied  over 
the  saddle  horn.  The  author  had  ordered  all  to  charge 
with  pistols  in  hand.  As  Hawkins  reached  the  door  and 
made  an  attempt  to  take  his  bridle  rein,  he  saw  that  it  was 
impossible.  The  author  demanding  his  surrender,  he  at 
tempted  to  draw  his  pistol  and  had  it  half  way  out  of  its 
holster  and  cocked,  when  the  author  fired  upon  him.  He 
fell  back,  still  holding  his  pistol.  The  author,  supposing 
more  of  the  enemy  were  inside  the  house,  dismounted,  and 
rushing  to  the  door,  demanded  the  surrender  of  every  per 
son  that  might  be  in  the  house.  As  the  author  entered  the 
door,  he  heard  Hawkins,  still  holding  his  pistol,  remark: 
"Monks,  you  have  killed  me."  The  author  replied 
that  that  was  what  he  intended  to  do,  and  he  must  let  go 
of  that  pistol  or  he  would  be  shot  again.  He  took  his  hand 
loose  from  the  pistol  and  in  a  short  time  was  dead.  His 
wife  asked  the  author  to  lay  him  out,  which  request  was 
complied  with. 

We  mounted  and  again  took  the  rebel  trail  and  by 
this  time  it  had  grown  so  dark  that  we  lost  it  and  went  on 
to  the  residence  of  Captain  Howard,  dismounted,  fed  our 
horses  and  got  our  supper. 

Captain  Howard  afterwards  informed  the  author  that 
he  had  just  been  home  and  started  back  to  the  rebel  camp 
and  heard  the  horses  feet,  stepped  behind  a  tree  and  that 
we  passed  within  fifteen  feet  of  him;  said  if  it  hadn't  been 
dark  we  would  have  been  certain  to  have  found  the  rebel 
camp ;  that  that  day  some  one  of  the  rebel  soldiers  had 
killed  a  deer,  stretched  the  skin  and  had  it  hanging  up  and 
the  camp  wasn't  more  than  two  hundred  yards  from  the 
main  road.  After  we  ate  our  suppers  and  fed  our  horses 
we  again  resumed  our  march  and  reached  Rolla,  Missouri, 
on  the  second  day  afterwards. 


118  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Another  Meeting  With  Captain  Forshee 

In  the  spring  of  1863  General  Davidson  was  ordered 
to  move  from  Rolla,  Missouri,  directly  south  to  little 
Rock.  On  breaking  camp  and  marching  in  the  direction  of 
West  Plains  the  author,  with  his  company  of  scouts, 
was  ordered  to  report  to  him  for  service.  On  reaching 
West  Plains  he  went  into  camp.  West  Plains  and  vi 
cinity  were  completely  covered  with  tents  and  troops. 
All  of  the  hills  adjoining  West  Plains  were  literally  cover 
ed  with  tents,  Davidson's  headquarters  being  inside  of  the 
town.  The  author  being  sent  out  on  a  scout,  came  to  the 
home  of  a  man  named  Barnett  residing  in  Gunter's  Valley 
and  not  being  able  to  reach  town,  went  into  camp  near 
Barnett's.  In  a  short  time  Barnett  came  in  home.  He  had 
been  a  lieutenant  in  the  company  where  the  author  was 
prisoner.  He  informed  the  author  that  he  had  been  to 
Thomasville  Mill  and  that  Captain  Forshee,  who  lived 
about  one  mile  below,  had  also  returned  with  him. 

The  author  at  once  placed  a  guard  around  Barnett's 
house  (Barnett  being  the  father-in-law  of  the  Captain)  de 
tailed  two  men  to  accompany  him,  prepared,  mounted,  and 
started  to  the  residence  of  Forshee  fully  determined  to  kill 
him.  The  author  instructed  his  men  that  if  Forshee  remain 
ed  in  the  house  and  didn't  attempt  to  run,  to  play  off  and 
tell  him  that  they  belonged  to  Colonel  Woods,  a  Confed 
erate  officer  on  White  river.  The  author  then  being 
clothed  in  Federal  uniform  and  having  but  a  limited  ac 
quaintance  with  Forshee  before  the  war  did  not  think  that 
he  would  recognize  him.  On  reaching  the  house  we  repaired 
to  the  door,  hallooed,  and  his  wife  invited  us  in.  The 
author  had  his  pistol  under  the  cape  of  his  coat  still  de 
termined  upon  killing  him.  On  entering  the  house,  found 
him  in  bed  with  one  of  his  children,  his  wife  did  not  have 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  119 

the  supper  on  the  table.  The  author  asked  him  if 
he  had  ever  been  in  the  Confederate  service;  he  an 
swered  that  he  had,  went  out  in  the  six  months  pro 
visional  Confederate  service;  didn't  stay  his  time  out, 
resigned  and  came  home.  The  author  asked  him  if  they 
had  taken  any  prisoners  while  they  were  in  service ;  he 
hesitated  a  moment  and  replied  that  they  did.  The  au 
thor  asked  him  if  he  remembered  the  names  of  any  of 
them ;  he  said  he  remembered  the  names  of  two  of  them 
well.  The  author  asked  him  if  he  knew  wrhat  became  of 
them;  he  said  that  Black  enlisted  in  the  Confederate 
service,  served  his  time  out  and  then  substituted  him 
self  and  \vas  now  in  the  eastern  Confederate  army ;  he 
again  hesitated.  The  author  asked  him  if  he  knew  what 
became  of  the  other  man;  he  said  that  he  didn't;  that  he 
made  his  escape  from  the  Confederate  army  and  he  had 
heard  that  he  was  a  captain  in  the  Northern  army.  The 
author  said  \vith  an  oath  "How  would  you  like  to  see 
him;"  he  replied  "l  would  not  like  to  see  him  very  well." 
The  author  then  said,  with  an  oath,  "I  am  here,  look  at  me 
and  see  whether  you  think  I  am  worth  a  beef  cow  or  not." 
At  this  his  \vife  sprang  between  him  and  the  author  and  he 
said  to  the  author,  "Captain,  there  ain't  one  man  out  of 
ninety -nine  but  what  would  kill  me  for  the  treatment  you 
received  while  a  prisoner  but  I  have  always  thought  that  if 
I  ever  met  you  and  you  would  give  me  the  time  to  explain 
the  cause  of  it,  you  wouldn't  kill  me,  and  I  want  to  live 
to  raise  my  children." 

The  thought  passed  through  the  mind  of  the  author 
that  he  could  not  kill  him  in  the  lap  of  his  family ;  but  he 
would  take  him  to  Barnett's  house  where  he  had  some 
more  prisoners  and  on  the  next  day  he  wrould  kill  him  on 
the  way ;  ordered  him  to  get  out  of  that  bed ;  Forshee 
again  appealed  and  said  that  he  would  like  to  know 


120  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

whether  the  author  was  going  to  kill  him  or  not;  that  he 
wanted  to  live  to  raise  his  children.  The  author  replied 
to  him  with  an  oath  that  "you  ought  to  have  thought  of 
these  things  when  you  was  pulling  me  away  from  the 
bosom  of  my  family,  never  gave  me  time  to  bid  them  good- 
by;  get  out  of  that  bed."  There  was  about  a  six  months 
old  child  in  the  cradle.  He  slid  out  of  the  bed,  kneeled 
down  by  the  cradle,  and  was  in  the  act  of  praying,  his 
wife  still  standing  close  b3^.  The  author  ordered  him 
to  get  up;  that  it  was  too  late  to  pray  after  the  devil  came; 
that  I  had  been  appointed  by  the  devil  to  send  him  up  at 
once  and  lie  had  the  coals  hot  and  ready  to  receive  him 
and  that  I  didn't  want  to  disappoint  the  devil.  He  arose 
to  his  feet  and  again  asked  the  author  if  he  was  going  to 
kill  him;  said  he  wanted  t'ire  to  give  ire  tl:e  whole  truth 
of  the  matter;  went  on  to  say  Hawkins,  vSapp,  Kaiser  and 
others  were  the  cause  of  all  the  mistreatment,  but  would 
aclinic  that  he  done  wrong  in  agreeing  to  deliver  the  author 
to  them  for  the  purpose  of  having  him  mobbed  and  for 
abusing  him,  himself. 

His  wife  had  hot  coffee  on  the  table  and  she  asked  that 
he  be  allowed  to  sit  down,  saying  that  she  wanted  to  see 
him  sup  coffee  once  more.  The  author  told  her  that  they 
never  gave  him  time  to  bid  his  wife  good-bye,  let  alone  to 
sup  coffee  with  her.  After  taking  a  few  sups  of  coffee,  the 
author  said  that  he  couldn't  fool  any  longer  with  him ;  that 
he  must  strike  a  line  and  move  out.  His  wife  said  that  she 
was  going  with  him,  but  her  husband  told  her  she  had  no 
business  going,  as  it  was  then  snowing  and  the  ground  was 
considerably  frozen.  The  author  told  her  that  if  she  was 
determined  to  go,  the  boys  could  take  her  and  the  children 
behind  them,  but  the  Captain  would  have  to  walk  right  in 
front  of  the  author,  and  if  he  made  a  crooked  step  from 
there  until  he  reached  Barnett's,  he  would  shoot  him 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  121 

through.  The  boys  took  his  wife  and  children  on  the 
horses,  and  the  author  started  the  Captain  in  front  of  him. 
He  had  thought  that  he  would  be  compelled  to  shoot  him 
on  the  way,  but  he  could  not  shoot  him  in  the  presence  of 
his  family ;  so  he  thought  he  would  take  him  to  the  guard 
house  and  keep  him  until  morning,  and  then  on  the 
way  to  West  Plains  he  would  make  a  pretext  to  kill 
him,  for  he  thought  he  must  kill  him. 

In  the  morning,  after  breakfast,  we  broke  camp  and 
moved  in  the  direction  of  West 'Plains.  The  author  had 
now  become  cool,  and  while  he  believed  he  ought  to  kill 
him  for  what  he  had  done,  he  could  not  afford  to  shoot,  or 
cause  a  prisoner  to  be  shot,  while  he  was  in  his  charge;  so 
on  reaching  West  Plains,  the  prisoner  was  turned  over  to 
the  guard  house. 

The  morning  following  was  very  cool,  and  the  ground 
was  covered  with  snow.  Gen.  Davidson  had  ordered  out 
a  large  scout  for  the  purpose  of  marching  towards  Bates - 
ville  and  White  river,  to  feel  the  strength  of  the  enemy,  and 
the  author's  company  composed  a  part  of  the  detail.  After 
the  command  was  mounted  and  waiting  for  orders  to  move, 
the  sergeant  of  the 'guard  came  out  and  inquired  if  there  was 
a  Captain  Monks  in  that  command.  The  Colonel  informed 
him  that  there  was.  He  said  there  was  a  prisoner  in  the 
guard  house  who  wanted  to  see  him.  The  author  got  per 
mission  to  ride  to  the  guard  house,  and  on  reaching  the 
door,  who  should  meet  him  but  Capt.  Forshee,  who  told  the 
author  that  he  had  almost  frozen  the  night  before,  and 
wanted  to  know  if  the  author  couldn't  loan  him  a  blanket. 
He  was  told  that  he  was  the  last  man  who  should  ask  the 
author  for  the  use  of  a  blanket.  Forshee  replied:  "That's 
so,  Captain;  but  I  believe  that  you  are  a  good  man,  and 
don't  want  to  see  a  man,  while  he  is  a  prisoner,  suffer  from 
cold."  The  author  asked  him  if  they  had  any  gray  backs 


122  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

in  the  guard  house.     He  said  he  had  none  on  himself,  but 
didn't  know  in  what  condition  the  others  were. 

The  author  had  two  new  government  blankets  that  he 
had  paid  $5  apiece  for  a  short  time  previous,  on  the  back 
of  his  saddle.  He  told  Forshee  that  he  didn't  know  as  he 
would  need  them  both  until  he  had  gotten  back  from  the 
scout,  and  would  loan  him  a  blanket  until  he  returned. 
Forshee  replied:  "I  will  never  forget  the  favor."  The 
author  handed  him  one  of  the  blankets,  and  immediately 
started  on  the  scout.  WhUe  the  scout  was  south  recon- 
noitering  with  the  enemy,  Gen.  Davidson  received  orders 
from  headquarters  countermanding  the  order  to  march  to 
Ivittle  Rock  by  land,  and  that  he  would  march  his  forces  to 
Ironton,  Missouri,  and  there  await  further  orders.  He  at 
once  broke  camp  and  resumed  his  march  in  the  direction 
of  Ironton,  carrying  the  prisoners  with  him,  with  orders  for 
the  scout  on  its  return  to  move  up  and  overtake  him,  as 
they  were  all  cavalry.  So  the  author  never  saw  Capt. 
Forshee  nor  his  blanket  any  more,  but  was  informed  that 
he  was  parolled  at  Ironton,  took  the  oath,  returned  to  Ore 
gon  county,  and  died  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war. 

Upon  the  return  of  the  scout  to  West  Plains,  a  part  of 
the  command  that  belonged  to  Gen.  Davidson's  forces 
moved  on  after  the  army,  while  the  author,  with  two  com 
panies,  remained  in  West  Plains  about  half  a  day  for  the 
purpose  of  resting  up.  While  in  West  Plains  a  rebel  that 
the  author  was  well  acquainted  with,  came  to  him  and  told 
him  he  had  better  be  getting  out  of  West  Plains,  fora  force 
of  five  hundred  rebels  was  liable  to  come  into  West  Plains 
at  any  moment.  The  author  pretended  to  become  consid- 
ably  alarmed,  and  reported  that  he  was  going  to  march 
directly  to  Rolla  with  the  two  companies  then  under  his 
command.  After  marching  about  fifteen  miles  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Rolla,  he  made  a  flank  movement,  marched  into  the 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  123 

corner  of  Douglass  county,  was  there  reinforced,  and  the 
next  day  marched  directly  to  the  west  end  of  Howell  county. 
The  rebels,  believing  that  the  Federal  troops  had  all  left  the 
county,  came  in  in  small  bunches  from  all  over  the  coun 
ty.  The  author  made  a  forced  march  and  reached  the  west 
end  of  the  county  about  dark,  turned  directly  toward  West 
Plains,  took  the  rebels  completely  by  surprise,  had  a  num 
ber  of  skirmishes  with  them,  reaching  West  Plains  with 
more  rebel  prisoners  than  he  had  men  of  his  own.  On  the 
next  day  we  turned  in  the  direction  of  Rolla,  and  by  forced 
march  reached  Texas  county.  On  the  next  morning  we 
reached  the  Federal  post  at  Houston,  in  Texas  county, 
and  turned  over  the  prisoners,  among  whom  were  several 
prominent  officers.  Capt.  Nicks  was  one  of  them.  On 
the  night  of  his  capture  the  author  said  to  him:  "it  ap 
pears  to  me  that  it  is  about  the  same  time  of  night  that  they 
brought  me  prisoner  to  your  house."  He  answered:  "I 
declare  I  believe  it  is."  After  the  rebels  found  the  small 
number  of  the  force  that  had  made  the  scout,  they  de 
clared  that  it  was  a  shame  to  let  Monks  run  right  into  the 
very  heart  of  the  rebels  and  carry  out  more  prisoners  than 
he  had  men. 

Murdering  Federal  Soldiers. 

Some  time  in  June,  1863,  a  rebel  scout  and  a  Federal 
scout  had  a  fight  about  twenty  miles  northwest  of  Rolla. 
The  rebels  were  forced  to  abandon  a  number  of  wagons  and 
mules,  and  the  Federals,  owing  to  the  emergency  that  con 
fronted  them  at  the  time,  did  not  wish  to  be  encumbered 
with  them,  so  they  employed  a  farmer  to  keep  the  mules  in 
his  pasture  until  the  government  should  send  for  them. 
The  Federal  scouts  from  Rolla  and  Jefferson  City  would 
meet  occasionally  while  scouting.  On  the  scout's  arrival 
at  Rolla,  another  scout  composed  of  about  one  company  of 


124  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Federals  was  sent  out  to  bring  in  the  wagons  and  teams. 
Just  before  reaching  the  place  where  the  wagons  and  teams 
had  been  left,  they  saw  a  command  of  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  all  dressed  in  Federal  uniforms,  and  they  at 
once  took  them  to  be  a  Federal  scout  from  Jefferson  City. 
On  approaching  each  other,  they  passed  the  army  salute, 
and  marched  right  down  the  Federal  line;  they,  being  un 
suspecting,  believed  them  to  be  Federal  troops.  As  soon 
as  they  were  in  position  each  man  had  his  man  covered 
with  a  pistol.  The  rebel  scout  outnumbering  the  Federal 
scout  more  than  two  to  one,  they  demanded  their  surrender. 
The  Federals,  seeing  their  condition,  at  once  surrendered. 
They  were  marched  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  near  where 
the  wagons  and  teams  were  left,  dismounted  and  went  into 
camp,  as  the  rebels  claimed,  for  dinner.  Several  citizens 
were  present.  They  marched  the  Federal  company  to 
gether,  surrounded  them  in  a  hollow  square,  brought  some 
old  ragged  clothing,  and  ordered  them  to  strip.  After  they 
were  all  stripped  completely  naked,  and  while  some  were 
attempting  to  put  on  the  old  clothing,  all  their  uniforms 
having  been  removed  a  short  distance  from  them,  at  a  cer 
tain  signal  the  rebels  fired  a  deadly  volley  into  them.  Then 
followed  one  of  the  most  desperate  scenes  ever  witnessed  by 
the  eye  of  man.  The  men  saw  their  doom,  and  those  who 
were  not  killed  by  the  first  volley  rushed  at  the  rebels, 
caught  them,  tried  to  wrest  their  arms  from  them,  and  a 
desperate  struggle  took  place;  men  wrestling,  as  it  were, 
for  their  very  lives. 

A  number  of  the  Federals  had  their  throats  cut  with 
knives.  After  the  rebels  had  completed  the  slaughter  and 
hadn't  left  a  man  alive  to  tell  the  tale,  they  ate  their  dinner, 
and  taking  the  mules  and  wagons,  moved  southwest  with 
them.  The  citizens  at  once  reported  the  affair  to  the  com 
mander  of  the  post  at  Rolla. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  125 

The  men  who  were  killed  belonged  to  an  Iowa  regi 
ment,  and  the  author  believes  it  was  the  3rd  Iowa,  but  will 
not  be  positive.  A  strong  detail  was  made  and  sent  at  once 
to  the  scene  of  the  late  tragedy,  with  wagons  and  teams  to 
bring  the  dead  back  to  Rclla.  On  their  arrival  with  them, 
it  was  the  most  horrible  scene  that  the  author  ever  looked 
upon.  After  they  were  buried,  the  regiment  to  which  they 
belonged  declared  and  avowed  that  they  intended  to  take 
the  same  number  of  rebel  lives.  The  commander,  knowing 
their  determination,  and  being  satisfied  that  they  would 
carry  it  into  effect  if  the  opportunity  offered,  transferred 
them  to  another  part  of  the  country. 

A  Rebel  Raid. 

Some  time  in  the  fall  of  1863  the  Federal  authorities 
at  Rolla  learned  that  the  rebels  were  organizing  a  strong 
force  in  Arkansas,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  raid  into 
Missouri.  The  rebels  were  under  the  command  of  Gen. 
Burbrage.  The  author,  being  still  the  commander  of  the 
scouts,  was  ordered  to  take  one  man  and  go  south,  for  the 
purpose  of  learning,  if  possible,  the  movements  of  the 
rebels.  The  author  left  Rolla,  came  by  way  of  Houston, 
where  there  was  a  post,  thence  to  Hutton  Valley,  where 
there  was  living  a  man  named  Andy  Smith,  who  was  a 
Union  man,  but  had  made  the  rebels  believe  he  was  in 
favor  of  the  south.  The  author  approached  Smith's  house 
after  dark,  got  something  to  eat  and  to  feed  his  horses, 
and  learned  from  Smith  that  the  rebels  were  about  pre 
pared  to  make  the  raid  into  Missouri.  On  the  next  day  the 
author  was  informed  by  Smith  that  Burbrage  was  then 
moving  with  his  full  force  in  the  direction  of  Missouri. 
The  author  at  once  started,  intending  to  reach  the  nearest 
Federal  force,  which  was  in  Douglas  county.  In  the 
meantime,  Gen.  Burbrage,  with  his  whole  force,  reached 


126  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

the  Missouri  line,  leaving  West  Plains  a  little  to  the  right, 
taking  an  old  trace  that  ran  on  the  divide  between  the 
waters  of  the  North  fork  of  White  river  and  of  Eleven 
Points  river,  this  being  afterwards  known  as  "the  old 
Burbrage  trail."  The  author,  expecting  they  would  march 
by  way  of  West  Plains  and  on  through  Hutton  Valley, 
thought  he  would  be  able  to  keep  ahead  of  them  and  make 
his  report;  but  owing  to  their  marching  an  entirely  differ 
ent  route,  the  author  crossed  their  trail.  He  found  that  a 
large  force  of  men  had  just  passed  and  he,  in  company  with 
a  man  named  Long,  examined  the  horse  tracks,  found  that 
the  shoes  contained  three  nails  in  each  side,  and  knew  at 
once  that  it  must  be  Burbrage 's  command.  They  had 
passed  not  more  than  three  hours  before  this  time.  Mak 
ing  a  forced  march,  the  author  and  Long  followed  on  the 
same  trail,  and  soon  came  to  a  house,  holloed,  and  a  lady 
coming  out,  we  inquired  how  far  the  command  was  ahead. 
The  lady  informed  us  that  they  hadn't  been  gone  more  than 
three  hours  and  she  exclaimed:  "Hurrah  for  Gen.  Bur 
brage  and  his  brave  men!  The  Yankees  and  lop-eared 
Dutch  are  goin'  to  ketch  it  now,  and  they  intend  to  clean 
them  out  of  the  country!"  We  then  became  satisfied  as 
to  whose  command  it  was,  and  their  destination.  We  rode 
on  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the  house,  turned  to  the 
left,  and  started  with  all  possible  speed,  intending,  if  pos 
sible,  to  go  around  them  and  get  the  word  in  ahead  of 
them.  On  striking  the  road  at  the  head  of  the  North  Fork 
of  White  river,  we  looked  ahead  of  us  about  a  hundred 
yards  and  saw  twenty -five  men,  about  fifty  yards  from  the 
road,  all  in  citizen's  dress,  wearing  white  hat  bands. 
The  state  had  ordered  all  the  state  militia  to  wear  white 
hat  bands,  so  that  they  might  be  designated  from  the 
rebels.  The  author  remarked  to  Long:  "I  guess  the 
men  are  militia,  but  we  will  ride  slowly  along  the  road  and 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  127 

pass  them,  for  fear  they  are  rebels."  They  remained  still 
on  their  horses  until  after  we  had  passed  them,  then 
they  moved  forward  and  came  riding  up  and  halted  us.  and 
wanted  to  know  who  we  were.  The  author  told  them  his 
name  was  Williams  and  Long  told  them  his  name  was 
Tucker.  They  asked  us  if  we  had  ever  heard  of  the  Al- 
sups,  and  we  told  them  wre  had.  Then  they  wanted  to 
know  where  we  were  going.  We  told  them  we  \vere  going 
into  Arkansas,  near  Yellville;  that  a  general  order  had 
been  made  in  the  state  of  Missouri  that  all  able-bodied  men 
must  come  and  enroll  their  names  and  those  who  \vere  not 
in  the  state  service  would  have  to  be  taxed ;  that  we  didn't 
want  to  fight  nor  pay  a  tax  to  support  those  who  were 
fighting.  They  ordered  us  to  dismount,  surrounded  us, 
with  cocked  pistols,  and  ordered  us  to  crawl  out  of  our 
clothes  and  give  up  our  arms.  Wre  commenced  to  strip. 
Long  had  on  a  very  fine  pair  of  boots,  for  which  he  had 
just  paid  $5.00,  and  while  the  author  didn't  know  at  what 
moment  they  would  be  shot,  he  could  not  help  but  be 
tickled  at  the  conduct  of  Long  when  they  ordered  him  to 
take  off  his  boots.  He  crossed  his  legs  and  commenced 
pulling,  with  the  remark :  "My  boots  are  tight."  The 
pistols  were  cocked  and  presented  right  on  him,  not  more 
than  six  feet  away,  and  they  told  him  to  hurry  up  or  they 
would  shoot  his  brains  out.  While  he  was  pulling  at  his 
boots  he  appeared  to  be  looking  right  down  the  muzzles  of 
the  revolvers.  As  soon  as  he  had  pulled  off  his  boots  and 
pitched  them  over,  they  remarked:  "Hell,  a  right  brand 
new  pair  of  socks  on.  Pull  them  off  quick  and  throw  them 
over."  A  part  of  these  men  were  dressed  in  the  dirtiest, 
most  ragged  clothes  the  author  had  ever  seen — old  wool 
hats,  with  strings  tied  under  their  chins,  old  shoes  with 
the  toes  worn  out,  and  old  socks  that  were  mostly  legs ; 
but  claiming  all  the  time  to  be  militia.  They  ordered  us  to 


128  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

get  into  their  oil  clothes  and  shoes,  and  placed  their  old 
hats  upon  us.  Our  clothing  and  hats  all  being  new,  the 
author  thought  that  was  one  of  the  hardest  things  they  had 
ordered  him  to  do;  that  he  was  just  as  apt  to  get  out  of 
the  garments  as  to  get  into  them.  After  we  were  dressed 
in  their  old  clothing,  one  of  them  asked:  .  "What  did  you 
say  your  name  was?"  lyong  replied,  "Tucker."  One 
that  was  standing  a  little  back  came  running  up  with  his 
pistol  cocked,  and  remarked  that  if  he  was  a  certain  Tucker 
(naming  the  Tucker)  :  "I  am  going  to  kill  him  right 
here."  Another  of  the  number  said:  "Hold  on,  this  man 
is  not  the  Tucker  that  you  are  thinking  of."  Then  their 
leader  said,  with  an  oath:  "We  belong  to  Gen.  Bur- 
bra^e's  command.  He  is  just  ahead.  Do  you  want  us  to 
take  you  up  to  headquarters?"  WTe  told  him  we  had  heard 
of  Gen.  Burbrage,  and  expected  that  he  was  a  good  man, 
so  if  they  wanted  to  take  us  to  his  headquarters  all  right: 
but  we  did  not  want  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  militia,  as 
we  wanted  to  get  through  to  Yellville  while  Gen.  Burbrage 
was- in  the  country.  One  of  the  men  looked  at  the  horses 
we  were  riding  and  remarked:  "Let's  take  the  horses. 
We  have  orders  to  take  all  horses  that  are  fit  for  the  ser 
vice."  Another  said  the  horses  were  rather  small  for  the 
service,  and  as  we  would  have  a  great  deal  of  water  to  cross 
between  there  and  Yellville,  it  would  be  a  pity  to  make  us 
wade  it.  Then  their  leader  remarked:  "We  are  Confed 
erate  soldiers,  out  fighting  for  our  country,  and  you  men 
are  too  damned  cowardly  to  fight.  We  have  got  to  have 
clothing,  and  as  we  suppose  you  are  good  southern  men, 
when  you  get  to  Yellville  you  can  \vork  for  more  clothes." 
They  then  ordered  us  to  take  the  road  and  move  on,  and 
tell  the  Alsups  that  the  country  was  full  of  rebels. 

We  mounted  our  horses  and  rode  away,  feeling  happy 
on  account  of  our  escape.     They  remained  in  the  road  and 


AND   NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  129 

watched  us  until  we  were  out  of  their  sight.  The  author 
looked  over  at  Long's  feet  and  saw  his  toes  sticking  out  of 
his  old  shoes;  could  see  his  naked  skin  in  sevenal  places 
through  his  raiment.  He  hardly  looked  natural — didn't 
look  like  the  same  man.  We  hadn't  gone  more  than  a 
mile  until  we  struck  a  farm  and  a  road  leading  between  the 
farm  on  one  side  and  the  bluff  and  river  on  the  other,  and 
looking  in  front,  saw  about  fifteen  men  coming.  The 
author  said  to  Long:  "What  shall  we  do?  Shall  we  at 
tempt  to  run,  or  had  we  better  pass  them?"  We  concluded 
that  it  was  impossible  to  get  away  by  running;  the  only 
chance  left  being  to  try  to  pass  through  them  without 
being  recognized. 

We  rode  up  to  meet  them,  and  they  halted  us  and 
wanted  to  know  where  we  were  going.  We  told  them  we 
were  going  to  Marion  county,  Arkansas,  near  Yellville. 
They  asked  us  our  names  and  we  again  gave  the  names  of 
Williams  and  Tucker.  A  man  named  Charley  Durham 
who  had  resided  at  West  Plains  and  had  met  me  several 
times,  rode  up  near  us  and  asked  me;  "What  did  you  say 
your  name  was?"  I  replied,  "Williams."  He  asked: 
"Did  you  ever  live  down  here  about  the  state  line?"  I 
told  him  I  never  did,  but  I  might  have  had  relatives  who 
lived  on  the  state  line.  He  said:  "I  am  satisfied  that  I 
have  seen  you  somewhere."  One  of  the  crowd  asked  us 
if  we  had  met  about  twenty-five  soldiers  just  ahead,  and 
when  we  informed  them  that  we  had,  they  remarked: 
"Bully  for  the  boys;  we  had  better  be  moving  on  or  we 
will  be  late."  They  moved  on,  and  we  continued  down 
the  road.  As  soon  as  we  were  out  of  sight  I  said  to  Long; 
"We  will  not  risk  our  chances  in  passing  any  more  of 
them;  there  are  too  many  men  down  here  that  are  ac 
quainted  with  us.  If  it  hadn't  been  for  my  old  clothes, 
Charley  Durham  would  have  recognized  me  beyond  a 


130  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

doubt."  We  then  left  the  road  and  took  to  the  woods, 
reaching  the  Federal  forces  about  midnight.  They  had  not 
heard  a  thing  regarding  the  approach  of  the  rebels.  They 
hurriedly  began  to  gather  in  all  the  forces,  and  at  once  set 
out  to  find,  if  possible,  the  destination  of  Gen.  Burbrage. 
It  was  learned  that  he  had  completely  cut  us  off  from  reach 
ing  either  Houston  or  Rolla.  On  the  next  day  the  Federal 
farces  met  Gen.  Burbrage  at  Hearstville,  Wright  county, 
Missouri,  and  there  fought  a  battle  with  him.  The  com 
mander  of  the  post  at  Houston,  who  was  in  command  of 
the  Federals,  was  killed  on  the  first  fire  from  the  artillery 
of  Gen.  Burbrage.  Col  McDonald,  during  the  engage 
ment,  was  shot  dead  at  the  head  of  the  town  spring. 
Burbrage  retreated  on  the  same  route  that  he  had  come  up 
on.  His  command  was  separated  into  several  divisions,  to 
get  food. 

Long  and  I  had  been  furnishrd  clothes  and  arms. 
Capt.  Alsup  being  in  command,  moved  near  the  road  that 
leads  down  Fox  Creek,  saw  a  rebel  scout  moving  down  Fox 
Creek,  composed  of  a  part  of  the  same  men  we  had  met  the 
day  before.  Capt.  Alsup  said  he  thought  that  by  striking 
the  road  and  taking  the  rebels  by  surprise  we  could  rout 
them.  On  marching  about  a  mile  we  came  in  sight  of 
them,  dismounted  for  dinner  at  the  house  of  a  man 
named  Ferris.  I  proposed  to  Capt.  Alsup  that  we  charge 
then.  He  thought  it  might  be  too  dangerous;  that  they 
would  have  the  benefit  of  the  house,  and  might  outnumber 
us,  and  we  would  be  compelled  to  retreat  and  might  be  cut 
off  from  our  horses.  He  ordered  us  to  dismount,  fromed  a 
line,  left  men  to  hoU  the  horses,  and  on  moving  about  ten 
steps,  the  rebel  picket,  who  was  placed  just  outside  of  the 
line,  discovered  us.  They  opened  fire  from  each  side  of  the 
house,  and  along  a  picket  fence  which  enclosed  the  house. 
We  returned  the  fire.  The  first  volley  that  was  fired,  a 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  131 

ball  passed  near  my  ear,  and  wounded  the  horse  that  I 
was  riding.  The  firing-  continued  for  some  time.  We  had 
them  cut  off  from  their  horses,  unless  they  came  outside 
and  faced  the  continual  firing.  One  man  attempted  to 
leave  the  house  and  reach  his  horse,  but  about  ten  feet  from 
the  door  he  received  a  wound  in  the  face  and  fell  to  the 
ground.  In  a  moment  he  arose  to  his  feet,  and  he  and  sev 
eral  others  again  retreated  into  the  house.  The  firing  con 
tinued  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  when  the  rebels  re 
treated  on  foot,  by  taking  advantage  of  the  house,  except 
one  man,  who  reached  his  horse,  cut  the  halter,  sprang 
into  the  saddle,  turned  his  horse  down  the  lane,  leaning 
close  to  the  horn  of  the  saddle,  put  spurs  and  made  his  es 
cape.  In  the  meantime  the  wounded  man  attempted  to 
make  his  escape  by  taking  advantage  of  the  house  and  re 
treating.  Capt.  Alsup,  when  he  saw  the  rebels  were  re 
treating,  ordered  a  charge.  The  wounded  man  was  again 
wounded,  and  fell  to  the  ground,  helpless.  All  the  other 
rebels  reached  the  woods,  and  made  their  escape. 

Farris,  the  man  who  owned  the  house  where  the  rebels 
were  stopping,  received  a  serious  wound  in  the  breast. 
They  left  sixteen  horses  with  their  rigs,  saddle -riders  filled 
with  new  clothing,  in  our  possession.  Gen.  Burbrage  re 
treated  from  the  state,  and  the  author  reported  to  his  com 
mand  at  Rolla. 

Rescuing  Union  Families. 

In  the  fall  of  1862  some  of  the  Union  men  whose  fam 
ilies  were  still  residing  in  Ozark  and  Howell  counties  went 
to  the  Federal  post  and  were  promised  arms  and  ammuni 
tion  in  order  to  return  and  try  to  get  their  families  out,  as 
it  had  become  almost  impossible  for  their  families  to  get 
through  alone,  on  account  of  being  robbed.  About  fifty  of 
them  procured  arms  and  started  for  Howell  county,  from  the 


132  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

outpost  of  the  Federal  authorities.  They  marched  at  night 
and  lay  by  in  the  day,  and  on  reaching  the  western  part  of 
Howell  county,  informed  their  families  to  get  ready  to  move, 
still  keeping  themselves  in  hiding.  About  twenty  families 
prepare:!  for  moving,  and  had  assembled  on  the  bayou,  near 
where  Friend's  old  mill  was  located.  Just  about  the  time 
they  were  ready  to  start,  a  bunch  of  rebels  came  up  and 
opened  fire  on  them.  They  returned  the  fire  and  held  the 
rebels  at  a  distance  while  they  moved  all  their  wagons  up 
close  together,  and  started  in  the  direction  of  Ozark  county. 
One  of  the  men  who  had  come. to  assist  in  the  escort  be 
came  excite:!  upon  the  first  fire  from  the  rebels  and  ran, 
never  stopping  until  he  reached  the  Federal  lines.  The  re 
mainder  of  the  men  bravely  repelled  the  rebels,  while  their 
families  kept  their  teams  steadily  moving.  On  reaching 
the  big  North  Fork  of  White  River,  and  while  the  families 
in  their  wagons  were  in  mid-stream,  the  rebels  reached  the 
bluff  and  opened  fire  on  them.  The  Union  men  vigorously 
returned  the  fire.  They  all  reached  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river  without  one  of  their  number  being  killed;  some  of 
the  women  and  children  had  received  slight  wounds,  but 
nothing  serious.  The  rebels  still  continued  to  fire  upon 
them  until  they  reached  the  northern  part  of  Ozark  county, 
when  further  pursuit  was  abandoned,  and  about  twenty 
families  were  enabled  to  reach  the  Federal  lines.  In  a 
short  time  the  Union  men  attempted  to  again  reach  their 
homes,  for  the  purpose  of  helping  destitute  families  to  get 
out.  They  traveled  only  at  night,  keeping  themselves  con 
cealed  in  day  time.  In  this  way  they  reached  Fulton 
county,  Arkansas,  when  the  rebels  found  out  that  some  of 
the  Union  men  were  in  the  country.  The  rebel  forces  at 
once  became  so  strong  that  the  Federals  had  to  retreat 
without  getting  any  of  their  families,  passing  back  through 
the  western  part  of  Howell  county,  over  into  Ozark,  and 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  133 

went  into  camp  on  the  head  of  Lick  Creek.  Shortly  after 
they  got  into  camp  the  rebels  slipped  up  on  them  and 
opened  fire,  mortally  wounding  a  man  named  Fox  and 
slightly  wounding  several  others.  They  had  to  scatter  at 
once  to  avoid  being  captured,  and  when  they  reached  the 
Federal  lines  they  were  almost  worn  out.  At  this  time  all 
of  the  Federal  posts  had  numbers  of  refugee  families  sta 
tioned  near  them,  entirely  destitute  of  food  and  raiment, 
and  relying  entirely  for  their  preservation  upon  the  small 
amount  of  help  they  received  from  the  government. 

General  Price's  Raid. 

Upon  my  return  from  Batesvflle,  Arkansas,  in  the 
spring  of  1864,  I  commenced  recruiting  for  the  16th  Mis 
souri  Cavalry  Volunteers,  the  most  of  the  regiment  being 
composed  of  men  who  had  been  in  the  state  service.  The 
required  number  to  form  the  regiment  was  soon  procured, 
and  the  regiment  was  organized,  electing  for  their  Colonel, 
John  Mahan.  The  author  was  elected  Captain  of  Co.  K. 
The  regiment  was  at  once  placed  in  active  service,  being 
quartered  at  Springfield,  Missouri,  up  to  the  time  of  Gen. 
Price's  raid.  Then  the  regiment  was  divided,  one  half  of 
it  being  sent  in  pursuit  of  Price.  The  other  half,  which 
was  known  as  the  second  battalion,  was  placed  under  my 
command  and  held  at  Springfield,  it  being  expected  that 
Gen.  Price  would  change  his  line  of  march  and  attack  the 
city.  As  soon  as  the  fact  was  ascertained  that  Price  was 
marching  north  and  west  of  Springfield,  orders  were  made 
to  send  every  available  man  that  could  be  spared  from  the 
post.  Among  the  troops  sent  out  was  the  author's  battal 
ion.  We  were  ordered  on  a  forced  march  in  the  direction 
of  Utony,  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  off  Price's  retreat.  We 
reached  Utony  about  10  o'clock  at  night,  where  they  had  a 
strong  Federal  garrison.  Two  thousand  rebels  of  Price's 


134  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

command  had  just  marched  across  the  road  before  we 
reached  the  garrison,  and  gone  into  camp  in  sight  of  the 
town.  Strong  pickets  were  thrown  out  on  each  side. 
About  daylight  the  Federal  forces  broke  camp  and  moved 
on  the  rebel  camp,  soon  coming  in  sight  of  the  rebel  forces, 
and  fire  was  opened  on  both  sides.  The  rebels  commenced 
retreating,  the  Federals  pursuing,  and  continuous  firing  and 
fighting  was  kept  up  until  we  came  near  the  Arkansas  line. 
A  number  of  rebel  prisoners  were  taken,  besides  some  of 
their  commissary  wagons  falling  into  the  possession  of  the 
Federals.  The  Federal  commander  then  ordered  a  retreat 
back  to  Springfield.  Price's  forces-  had  torn  up  all  the 
railroads  as  they  passed  over  them,  cutting  off  all  supplies, 
and  the  soldiers  and  prisoners  had  been  placed  on  quarter 
rations.  The  prisoners,  numbering  about  three  hundred 
and  fifty,  were  ordered  to  be  taken  to  Rolla,  Missouri. 
After  the  first  day's  march  from  Springfield  they  met  a 
Federal  train  carrying  commissaries  to  Springfield  and 
other  western  points.  The  men  being  then  on  quarter  ra 
tions,  the  Colonel  took  possession  of  some  of  the  commis 
saries  and  issued  them  to  the  soldiers  and  prisoners,  for 
which  he  was  afterward  arrested  and  court-martialed.  Oh 
reaching  Lebanon,  Missouri,  I  saw  the  quartermaster  haul 
in  about  five  or  six  loads  of  shucked  corn,  which  was  dis 
tributed  to  the  soldiers  and  prisoners.  I  well  remember 
that  while  they  were  distributing  the  corn  to  the  prisoners, 
a  general  rush,  which  appeared  to  be  almost  uncontrollable, 
was  made  around  the  wagon.  The  corn  wras  thrown  out 
on  the  ground  among  them,  they  picked  it  up  in  their  arms, 
and  at  once  retired  to  their  carnp  fires,  so  that  they  might 
parch  and  eat  it.  After  leaving  Lebanon,  the  prisoners 
were  all  placed  in  charge  of  the  author.  He  remembers 
one  rebel  prisoner  who  had  on  a  fine  dress  coat,  with  a 
bullet  hole  right  in  the  center  of  the  back,  and  the  soldiers 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  135 

had  to  be  watched  closely  to  prevent  them  from  shooting 
him,  as  the}'  believed  it  to  be  a  coat  that  had  been  taken 
from  the  body  of  some  Union  man,  after  he  had  been  shot. 
On  reaching  Rolla,  the  author  turned  over  all  the  pris 
oners  to  the  commander  of  the  post,  and  they  were  sent 
directly  to  Rock  Island,  there  to  be  held  as  prisoners  until 
such  time  as  they  might  be  exchanged.  I  again  returned 
to  Springfield  and  reported  to  my  regiment.  A  short  time 
thereafter,  the  loyal  men  of  the  counties  of  Howell,  Dent, 
Texas,  Phelps,  Ozark  and  Douglas,  in  Missouri,  and  of 
Fulton,  Izard  and  Independence  counties,  in  Arkansas, 
with  a  number  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  including  the 
commander  at  Rolla,  petitioned  Gen.  Schofield,  who  was 
then  in  command  of  the  western  district,  to  have  the  author 
detached  from  his  regiment,  then  at  Springfield,  and  sent 
south  of  Rolla  to  some  convenient  place,  and  given  com 
mand  of  a  post,  as  it  was  almost  impossible  t3  send  com 
missaries  through  from  Rolla  to  Springfield,  on  what  was 
known  as  the  wire  road,  on  account  of  the  roving  bands  of 
rebels,  who  had  complete  control  of  the  country,  a  short 
distance  from  the  military  post. 

Capt.  Monks  Establishes  a  Post  at  Licking. 

Gen.  Schofield  at  once  made  an  order  that  Capt.  Monks 
be  detached  from  his  regiment  and  report  at  Rolla,  with  his 
company,  for  farther  orders.  Gen.  Sanborn,  then  in  com 
mand  at  Springfield,  informed  the  author  of  his  final  des 
tination;  that  on  reaching  Rolla,  he  would  be  ordered  by 
Gen.  Schofield  to  Licking,  Missouri,  to  establish  a  post. 

It  soon  leaked  out,  a»d  the  rebels  swore  openly  that  if 
he  established  a  post  at  Licking  or  at  any  other  southern 
point,  they  would  soon  drive  the  post  into  the  ground  and 
annihilate  him  and  his  men.  I  went  to  Gen.  Sanborn  and 
requested  that  he  send  a  telegram  to  Gen.  Schofield,  and 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

ask  him  to  countermand  that  part  of  the  order  that  required 
Capt.  Monks  to  report  at  Rolla  for  further  orders,  and  order 
him  to  move  directly  from  Springfield  to  Licking.  The 
General  hesitated  for  sometime,  as  to  whether  it  would  be 
good  policy,  owing  to  the  large  numbers  of  rebels  in  the 
country  through  which  I  had  to  pass.  He  didn't  believe 
that  I  would  be  able  to  reach  Licking  with  the  one  com 
pany,  but  he  finally  decided  that  if  I  was  willing  to  risk  it, 
he  would  ask  Gen.  Schofield  to  change  his  order.  On  Gen. 
Schofield's  receiving  the  telegram,  he  made  an  order  that  I 
be  detached  from  my  regiment,  be  furnished  two  company 
wagons,  be  well  supplied  with  arms,  and  proceed  directly 
to  Licking.  On  reaching  Licking  I  was  to  report  by  courier 
to  headquarters  for  further  orders;  and  in  obedience  to  said 
order,  two  company  wagons,  with  tents,  comissaries,  arms 
and  ammunition  were  at  once  furnished,  and  I  set  out  for 
Licking,  Texas  county;  passed  Hartville,  the  county  seat 
of  Wright  county,  and  struck  the  waters  of  Big  Piney. 
There  was  considerable  snow  on  the  ground  at  the  time.  I 
took  the  rebels  by  complete  surprise.  While  they  were 
expecting  me  from  Rolla  to  Licking,  I  struck  them  from 
the  direction  they  least  expected.  On  reaching  Piney,  I 
encountered  a  rebel  force  of  about  sixty  men.  We  had  a 
fight,  two  or  three  rebels  were  killed,  and  the  rest  retreated 
south.  From  that  time  until  we  reached  Licking,  we  had 
more  or  less  fighting  every  day.  We  would  strike  trails  of 
rebels  in  the  snow,  where  there  appeared  to  be  over  one 
hundred  men,  but  they  were  so  sure  that  it  was  a  large 
scout  from  Springfield  that  they  did  not  take  time  to  ascer 
tain,  but  retreated  south  at  once.  On  reaching  Licking,  I 
sent  a  dispatch  to  Gen.  Schofield,  telling  of  my  arrival, 
and  immediately  received  orders  to  establish  a  post  and 
erect  a  stockade  fort,  and  to  issue  such  orders  as  I  believed 
would  rid  the  country  of  those  irregular  bands  of  rebels  and 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  137 

bushwhackers  and  protect  all  in  their  person  and  property, 
especially  the  loyal  men.  I  immediately  selected  a  frame 
building  for  my  headquarters,  with  an  office  near  by  for  the 
man  acting  as  provost  marshal ;  issued  my  order  requiring 
all  persons  who  claimed  protection  from  the  Federal  authori 
ties  to  come  in  and  take  the  oath,  and  bring  with  them 
axes,  shovels,  picks  and  spades,  with  their  teams,  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  a  stockade  fort.  And  further 
setting  out  in  said  order,  requiring  all  persons  who 
knew  of  any  irregular  bands  of  rebels  or  bushwhack 
ers  roaming  or  passing  through  the  .country,  to  report 
them  at  once;  and  if  they  failed  to  report  them,  they 
would  be  taken  as  bushwhackers  and  treated  as  such.  In 
a  short  time  I  had  erected  a  complete  stockade  fort  with 
port -holes,  and  room  enough  inside  to  place  all  the  cavalry 
horses  in  case  of  an  attack  by  the  rebels.  I  had  these  or 
ders  printed  and  sent  out  all  over  the  country.  In  a  short 
time,  a  man  who  had  been  known  to  be  a  rebel,  but  had 
stayed  at  home  unmolested,  but  who  had  been  giving  aid 
and  comfort  to  the  rebels,  came  into  the  office  and  said: 
"Captain,  I  want  to  see  you  in  your  private  room."  On 
entering  the  room  he  said :  "I  have  read  that  order  of 
yours.  You  don't  intend  to  enforce  it,  do  you,  Captain?" 
I  said  to  him  that  I  did  or  I  wouldn't  have  made  it;  that 
the  rebels  and  I  could  not  both  stay  in  that  country.  He 
said  to  me,  "Captain,  of  all  the  post  commanders  we  have 
had  here,  there  never  was  one  of  them  issued  such  an  or 
der  as  that.  You  know  if  I  were  to  report  those  rebel 
bands  they  would  kill  me."  I  replied,  "Very  well;  you 
have  read  my  order,  and  I  have  said  to  you  and  all  others 
that  if  you  fail  to  report  them  I  will  kill  you ;  and  you  say 
if  you  do  report  them,  they  will  kill  you;  now,  if  you  are 
more  afraid  of  them  than  you  are  of  me,  you  will  have  to 
risk  the  consequences;  for,  by  the  eternal  God!  if  you  fail 


138  HISTORY   OK   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

to  report  them,  I  have  said  to  you  that  I  would  treat  you 
as  a  bushwhacker,  and  you  well  know  how  I  treat  them." 
He  dropped  his  head  for  a  few  minutes,  then  raised  it  and 
said:  "Well,  it  is  mighty  hard.  Captain."  I  replied  that 
there  were  a  great  many  hard  things  now ;  asked  him 
where  all  of  his  Union  neighbors  \vere.  He  said  that  they 
had  been  forced  to  leave  their  homes  and  were  around  the 
Federal  posts  for  the  reason  that  they  claimed  to  be  Union 
men.  I  told  him  that  "a  lot  of  you  rebels  have  lain  here 
in  the  country  and  made  more  money  than  you  ever  made 
before  in  your  lives,  and  at  the  same  time  you  have  been 
giving  aid,  comfort  and  encouragement  to  all  of  these  ir 
regular  bands — giving  them  all  the  information  that  they 
wanted,  so  that  they  might  know  just  when  to  make  their 
raids,  and  now  I  propose  to  break  it  up  and  stop  it,  unless 
they  are  able  to  rout  me  and  drive  me  away.  The  govern 
ment  proposes  to  protect  all  of  you  who  will  come  in  and 
take  the  oath  and  comply  with  every  requirement  set  out 
in  the  order.  All  I  ask  of  you  men  is  to  give  me  informa 
tion  of  these  irregular  rebel  bands  and  their  whereabouts, 
and  you  can  again  return  home  and  your  information  will 
be  kept  a  secret;  but  this  much  you  are  required  to  do." 
In  a  short  time  a  large  number  of  them  had  come  in  and 
enrolled  their  names,  took  the  oath  and  went  to  work  on 
the  fort  like  heroes. 

Occasionally  one  would  come  in  and  say  "Captain,  I 
want  to  procure  a  pass  for  me  and  my  family  through  the 
Federal  lines;  I  want  to  leave."  I  would  ask  him; 
"What's  the  matter  now?  You  have  stayed  here  all 
through  the  war,  up  to  the  present  time,  and  now  I  have 
come  among  you,  and  offered  to  protect  every  one  of  you 
who  will  take  the  oath  and  comply  with  orders."  He 
would  reply  with  a  long  sigh,  "Yes,  Captain  but  that 
order  that  you  have  made."  I  would  ask  him  "what 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  139 

order."  "You  require  all  citizens,  especially  we  people  who 
have  been  rebels,  and  stayed  at  home,  to  report  all  of  the 
roving  bands  of  rebels  and  bushwhackers ;  if  we  don't  do  it, 
you  will  treat  us  like  bushwhackers ;  if  we  were  to  report 
them,  they  would  kill  us."  I  said,  "Now,  you  must  chose 
between  the  two  powers ;  and  if  you  are  more  afraid  of  the 
rebels  than  you  are  of  me,  you  will  have  to  risk  your 
chances.  You  say  if  you  report  them,  the}7  will  kill  you. 
Now,  by  the  Eternal,  I  am  determined  to  enforce  every 
thing  that  I  have  set  out  in  that  order.  This  day  you 
must  settle  in  your  own  mind  whom  you  will  obey.  As 
soon  as  the  first  roving  bands  of  rebels  and  guerrillas 
reached  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  raiding  the  wire 
road  between  Rolla  and  Springfield,  the  night  never  was 
too  dark  but  that  this  same  class  of  men  would  come  in 
and  report  them.  I  would  at  once  make  a  detail,  send 
these  men  right  out  with  them.  As  soon  as  they  would 
get  near  to  the  rebels,  they  would  dismiss  these  men  and 
let  them  go  home. 

The  rebels,  for  several  years,  had  been  sending  out  a 
large  scout  from  North  Arkansas  and  the  border  counties 
of  Missouri  and  when  they  would  reach  Texas  and  Pulaski 
counties  they  would  divide  into  small  squads  and  travel  the 
by-ways  and  ridges;  on  reaching  the  wire  road  they  would 
then  concentrate  and  lay  in  wait  until  the  wagon  trains  and 
noncombatants  who  were  merchants,  were  moving  through 
from  Rolla  to  Springfield  under  the  protection  of  an  es 
cort  ;  and  all  at  once  they  would  make  a  charge  upon  them 
from  their  hiding  places,  rout  the  escort,  capture  the  train 
and  all  others  that  might  be  in  company  with  it,  cut  the 
mules  loose  from  the  wagon,  take  all  the  goods  that  was 
not  cumberson,  especially  coffee,  sugar,  salt  and  dry 
goods,  place  them  on  the  backs  of  the  mules,  travel  a 
short  distance,  divide  up  again  into  small  parties,  take 


140  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

byways  and  mountains,  travel  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  go 
into  camp;  on  reaching  the  counties  of  Oregon  and  Shan 
non,  Fulton  and  L,awrence,  of  Arkansas,  they  would  con 
centrate  their  forces,  go  into  camp,  eat,  drink,  and  be 
merry.  As  soon  as  their  supplies  would  run  short,  they 
would  make  another  scout  of  a  similar  nature.  The 
commanders  of  the  post,  as  soon  as  they  would  attack  the 
trains,  would  order  out  a  scout  to  pursue  them.  They 
would  strike  their  trail  and  follow  them  a  short  distance 
to  where  they  would  separate  and  take  to  the  mountains. 
They  would'  abandon  the  -pursuit,  return  and  swear 
that  the  country  wasn't  worth  protecting.  In  that  wray 
they  completely  outgenerald  the  Federal  forces  and  held 
complete  possession  of  the  country  almost  in  sight  of  the 
post. 

On  one  occasion,  when  the  weather  was  very  cold  and 
bleak,  I  knew  of  their  capturing  some  of  the  Federal  sol 
diers  within  one  mile  of  the  fort,  kept  them  until  the  cold 
est  part  of  the  night,  just  before  day,  stripped  them  naked, 
turned  them  loose,  and  they  were  compelled  to  travel  a 
mile  before  they  could  reach  a  fire,  and  they  were  almost 
frostbitten.  Every  Union  man  was  driven  away  from  his 
home  and  moved  his  family  to  different  posts. 

The  author  had  declared  that  he  and  the  rebels  could 
not  both  remain  in  the  country  together ;  that  he  would 
either  rout  them  or  they  would  have  to  rout  him,  and  for 
that  reason  every  man  that  remained  in  the  country  would 
have  to  aid  him  in  the  work.  So,  in  every  instance,  when 
he  would  send  a  force  in  pursuit  of  those  raiding  bands,  he 
would  order  the  scout  to  follow  them,  and  when  they  di 
vided  to  still  continue  pursuit  of  the  most  visible  trail,  and 
when  they  came  in  sight  to  not  take  time  to  count  noses, 
but  charge  them  and  pursue  them  until  they  were  com 
pletely  annihilated.  They  would  go  into  camp  and  move 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  141 

at  their  leisure,  but  not  so  when  my  scouts  got  in  pursuit 
of  them.  In  a  number  of  instances  they  would  overtake 
them  from  twenty  to  twenty -five  miles  from  the  ware  road, 
in  camp,  having  a  jolly  good  time,  and  the  first  intimation 
they  would  have  would  be  the  boys  in  blue  charging  in 
amongst  them,  shooting  right  and  left,  and  they  would 
scatter  in  all  directions. 

It  was  but  a  short  time  until  they  remarked  to  some  of 
the  rebel  sympathizers  that  they  had  never  seen  such  a 
change  in  the  movements  of  the  Federal  scouts ;  that  they 
used  to  consider  themselves  safe  from  a  Federal  scout  as 
soon  as  they  left  the  main  road  and  divided  into  small 
squads;  but  now  they  wrere  in  as  much  danger  in  the  most 
secluded  spot  in  the  mountains  as  they  wrere  in  the  traveled 
roads;  therefore,  their  commanders  would  have  to  change 
their  tactics  in  regard  to  the  scouts,  and  abandon  that  part 
of  the  country,  as  almost  every  scout  that  thej^  had  made 
to  the  wire  road  had  proved  disastrous  since  "Old  Monks" 
had  been  placed  in  command  of  the  post.  In  a  short  time, 
the  Union  men,  who  had  been  driven  from  the  country, 
began  to  return  and  go  onto  their  farms,  and  about  five 
months  after  I  had  been  placed  in  command  of  the  post, 
the  civil  authorities  came  and  held  circuit  court,  Judge 
Waddle,  of  Springfield,  then  being  circuit  judge. 

Skirmishes  with  the  Rebels. 

Some  time  in  the  summer,  Col.  Freeman,  who  was 
commanding  the  rebels  in  northeastern  Arkansas,  whose 
headquarters  were  near  the  Spring  River  mill,  made  a  raid 
and  threatened  to  capture  the  Federal  forces  that  were  then 
at  the  Lacking  post.  I  soon  gained  information  of  his  in 
tention,  made  every  preparation  to  repel  the  attack,  also 
informed  the  commander  at  Rolla  of  the  intended  raid. 
Col.  Freeman,  accompanied  by  other  rebel  commanders, 


142  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

concentrated  all  of  the  available  rebel  force  then  at  his  com 
mand,  raided  the  country,  came  within  about  five  miles  of 
the  post,  learned  that  reinforcements  had  been  sent  to  the 
post,  countermarched  and  retreated  to  his  headquarters  near 
the  head  of  Spring  river. 

A  regiment  of  Federal  troops,  known  as  the  Fifteenth 
Veterans,  was  sent  as  a  reinforcement,  with  a  part  of  the 
Fifth  Missouri  State  Militia  that  was  then  stationed  at  Sa 
lem,  with  orders  to  remain  at  the  post.     I  received  orders 
to  organize  all  of  the  available  troops  and  pursue  the  rebel 
forces,  and,  if  possible,  to  reach  the   Spring  River  mill,  in 
Fulton    county,    Arkansas,    and    destroy    the    mill,  which 
Freeman  was  using  at  that   time   for   grinding   meal.     The 
Federal  force  composing  the  scout,  aggregating  about  three 
hundred  and   fifty  men,  moved   from   the  post  at   Licking. 
The  author  divided  his  forces,  ordering  one  wing  of  them 
to  move  through  Spring  Valley,  in  Texas  county;  the  other 
wing  to  ni'-ve  directly  in  the  direction  of  Thomasville,  with 
orders  to  form  a  junction  about  seven  miles  from  Thomas 
ville,  where  there  was  a  rebel  force  stationed.     On  reach 
ing  the  Wallace  farm,  in   Oregon   county,  we  came  onto  a 
force  of  rebe's.  commanded    by    James    Jamison,  who  had 
met   for   the   purpose   of   receiving  ammunition  which  had 
been  smuggled  through  from  Ironton.     After    an    engage 
ment,  the  rebels  fled,  leaving  one  man  dead;   James  Jami 
son  received  a    flesh  wound    in    the    thigh.     The    Federal 
force  which  had  been   ordered  through   Spring  Valley  had 
had  an  engagement  near  the  head  of  the  valley,  which  had 
delayed  them.     The  plans  of  the  author  had  been  frustrated 
by  coming  in  contact  with  the   rebels   sooner   than   he  ex 
pected.     As  they  had  retreated  in  the  direction  of  Thomas 
ville,  where  the  main  force  was  said  to  be  stationed,  I  con 
tinued  my  march,  and  in  about  one  mile  came  onto  a  rebel 
camp, wThere  the  rebels    had    cabins    erected    for    quarters; 


AND   NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  143 

here  another  spirited  engagement  took  place,  the  rebels 
retreating  in  the  direction  of  Thomasville,  the  Federal 
forces  still  pursuing. 

Just  above  Thomasville  the  command  encountered  a 
strong  picket  force,  fired  upon  the  command,  intending  to 
halt  it,  but  being  satisfied  that  there  was  a  trap  laid  I  order 
ed  a  charge.  The  picket  force  retreated  to  the  left,  up  a 
steep  hill,  and  at  once  the  whole  rebel  force  opened  fire 
from  the  side  of  the  mountain;  the  bullets  flew  just  above 
our  heads  like  hail,  one  ball  passing  through  my  hat. 
We  still  continued  the  charge  and  on  reaching  the  top  of 
the  hill,  routed  the  whole  rebel  force  and  they  again  re 
treated.  The  author  marched  into  Thomasville,  selected 
his  camping  ground  inside  of  Captain  Olds'  barn  lot,  giv 
ing  us  the  advantage  of  the  barn,  in  case  we  were  attacked 
by  a  superior  rebel  force.  I  at  once  dispatched  a  forage 
train  with  strong  escort  to  gather  in  all  the  forage 
possible,  as  it  was  very  scarce  in  the  country.  After  we 
had  been  in  camp  about  an  hour  I  inquired  of  Captain 
Olds  if  he  knew  of  any  corn.  He  said  he  did  not.  In 
about  a  half  hour  my  attention  was  called  by  one  of 
the  captains  pointing  to  a  large  smokehouse,  and  on 
looking,  saw  the  soldiers  taking  down  any  amount  of 
first-class  corn.  I  informed  the  captain  that  Captain 
Olds  had  claimed  that  he  had  no  corn ;  to  take  the  quarter 
master  and  let  him  place  a  guard  over  the  corn,  to 
see  that  it  was  not  wasted,  and  that  it  was  properly 
apportioned.  In  a  short  time  the  author  saw  Captain 
Olds  coming.  He  went  to  one  of  the  other  captains 
and  inquired  who  the  commander  was.  He  was  in 
formed  that  it  was  Capt.  Monks  He  came  to  the  author 
laughing  and  remarked:  "You  found  my  corn,  did 
you?  I  told  you  that  I  had  none;  I  had  to  secrete 
it  in  that  butlding  to  keep  it  so  that  the  rebels 


144  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

could  not  find  it."  I  just  remarked  to  Captain  Olds: 
"You  needn't  try  to  hide  anything  from  these  lop- 
eard  Dutch,  for  I  don't  care  where  you  put  it  .they  will 
find  it."  The  men  who  discovered  the  corn  were  all 
Germans  and  belonged  to  a  German  company.  He  asked 
us  to  feed  just  as  sparingly  as  possible  and  leave  him  a 
part  of  the  corn,  which  we  did.  He  then  attempted  to 
warn  the  author  of  his  danger  and  asked  him  if-  he 
intended  to  camp  there  for  the  night;  said  that  Colonel 
Freeman  had  over  one  thousand  men  which  he  could  con 
centrate  within  five  or  six  hours  and  that  he  would 
cut  the  author's  command  all  to  pieces.  The  author 
replied  to  the  captain  that  that  was  his  business,  that  Free 
man  had  come  up  on  the  scout  and  claimed  that  he  was 
wanting  a  fight ;  the  author  prepared  for  him  and  expected 
to  accommodate  him  but  he  changed  his  notion  and  re 
treated,  devastating  the  country  as  he  went,  and  now  the 
author  was  hunting  him  and  his  forces  and  wanted  to  fight. 
If  he  came  up  that  night  and  attacked  the  author's  com 
mand  that  it  would  save  any  more  trouble  hunting  him. 

Just  about  that  time  the  author  saw  the  other  part  of 
the  command  approaching  and  called  the  attention  of 
Captain  Olds  and  asked  him  if  he  thought  that  was  a  part 
of  Freeman's  command.  After  looking  a  few  minutes  he 
said  to  the  author:  "They  are  Federal  troops."  I 
asked  him  if  he  thought  we  would  be  able  to  remain  there 
until  morning?  He  said  that  he  thought  we  would  and 
invited  me  to  come  into  his  house  and  eat  supper.  While 
at  supper  asked  if  we  intended  to  march  any  further  south. 
The  author  informed  him  that  if  his  information  was  cor 
rect  in  regard  to  Freeman's  forces  we  were  about  as 
far  away  from  home  as  we  ought  to  get  and  that  we  had 
better  move  back  in  the  direction  of  the  post.  The  author 
ordered  the  command  to  be  ready  to  march  by  early  day- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  145 

light,  next  morning  broke  camp  and  moved  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Spring  river.  On  reaching  the  head  of  Warm 
fork  of  Spring  river,  we  encountered  another  rebel  force; 
had  a  short  engagement,  and  they  again  retreated.  On 
reaching  the  head  of  Spring  river  about  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon,  we  again  met  a  rebel  force;  after  consider 
able  firing  they  retreated. 

The  author  moved  up  near  the  mill  and  went  into 
camp.  The  mill  was  grinding  corn  with  quite  a  lot  of 
corn  on  hand,  but  the  miller  left  and  retreated  with  the 
rebels.  The  author  soon  placed  a  substitute  in  his  place 
and  the  boys  had  a  fine  time  baking  corn  cakes. 

After  supper,  some  of  the  men  had  just  retired  to  rest, 
when  the  rebels  again  made  a  fierce  attack ;  after  fighting 
for  twenty  or  twenty -five  minutes  they  retreated  a  short 
distance  and  went  into  camp,  the  river  dividing  the  two 
forces.  During  the  night  the  two  pickets  would  dare  each 
other  to  cross  the  river.  During  the  night  there  came  a 
heavy  rain  and  made  the  Warm  fork  of  Spring  river  swim 
ming;  there  was  no  way  to  cross  except  on  the  mill  dam. 

The  next  morning  about  daylight  the  author  ordered 
them  to  take  the  millstones  and  break  them  up  and  destroy 
the  machinery  so  it  would  be  impossible  to  grind;  dis 
mounted  about  one  hundred  men,  placed  them  in  hiding 
and  marched  away  a  short  distance,  thinking  the  rebels 
would  cross  over  and  we  would  surprise  and  capture  them. 
But  on  seeing  the  Federals  break  camp  and  marching  up 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  they  broke  camp  and  marched 
up  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  The  author  then  mounted 
his  men  and  marched  up  the  Warm  fork  to  where  he  effect 
ed  a  crossing,  marched  about  ten  miles,  went  into  camp  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  breakfast.  Just  after  breakfast,  the 
author  noticed  the  advance  of  a  rebel  force  march  out  on 
another  road;  as  soon  as  they  discovered  that  the  Federals 


146  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

were  in  camp,  they  fell  back  and  the  author  at  once 
mounted  his  men.  On  the  other  road,  as  there  was  a  con 
siderable  hill  that  hid  them  from  sight,  he  formed  his  men 
in  two  lines  in  a  V;  detailed  a  strong  advance  force,  or 
dered  them  to  move  onto  the  rebels  and  charge  them,  and 
in  case  they  found  that  they  were  too  strong,  to  retreat 
back  between  the  lines  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the  rebel 
forces  in  betwreen  the  lines.  After  a  fierce  conflict,  lasting 
but  a  few  minutes,  the  rebels  again  retreated,  leaving  a 
rebel  Major  dead  upon  the  ground.  We  then  marched  into 
Thomasville  and  had  another  running  fight  with  the  rebels, 
went  into  camp  and  the  next  morning  marched  back  in  the 
direction  of  the  post  at  Licking,  reaching  the  post  about  10 
o'clock  that  night.  The  author  again  took  command  at 
the  post  and  the  Fifteenth  Veterans  returned  to  Rolla. 

Ridding  the  Country  of  Bushwhackers. 

It  soon  became  very  rare  to  hear  of  a  rebel  scout  north 
of  the  mountain.  Both  rebel  and  Union  men  who  claimed 
protection  by  the  Federal  authorities  began  to  repair  and 
improve  their  farms  again.  During  the  time  that  the 
author  was  in  command  of  the  post,  which  continued  up  to 
the  time  that  peace  was  made,  his  command  had  routed 
and  completely  driven  from  the  country  all  irregular  and 
roving  bands  of  rebels  and  bushwhackers  and  had  had 
numbers  of  small  engagements  in  which  there  had  been 
from  eighty  to  ninety  of  the  most  desperate  class  of  men 
that  ever  lived,  killed,  which  was  shown  in  the  adjutant 
general's  report.  After  they  had  been  driven  out  of  the 
county,  they  located  in  the  counties  of  Oregon,  Shannon 
and  Dent,  and  at  once  commenced  pillaging  and  robbing 
all  classes  of  citizens,  irrespective  of  their  political  adher 
ence.  Col.  Freeman  sent  a  courier  through  the  lines  with 
a  dispatch,  stating  the  condition  of  affairs,  and  asking  that 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  147 

an  armistice  be  entered  into  between  Col,  Freeman's  scouts 
and  the  scouts  which  might  be  sent  out  from  the  post,  with 
an  understanding  that  they  were  going  to  aid  each  other  in 
routing  and  driving  out  these  irregular  bands. 

While  engaged  in  that  work  they  were  not  to  fire  on 
each  other,  but  to  co-operate.  The  author  was  to  enter 
into  the  agreement  if  it  could  be  effected.  Col.  Freeman 
sent  Capt.  Cook  into  Oregon  and  Shannon  counties  to  lo 
cate  those  roving  guerrilla  bands,  and  in  some  way,  un 
known  to  either  Col.  Freeman  or  myself,  they  gained  the 
information,  and  while  Capt.  Cook  was  in  Oregon  county 
locating  them,  they  waylaid  him  and  killed  him.  Col. 
Freeman,  realizing  the  fact  that  they  had  come  into  posses 
sion  of  the  whole  scheme,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  we 
had  better  abandon  the  agreement.  He  organized  scouts 
and  captured  and  shot  some  of  the  most  desperate  char 
acters  that  were  leaders,  \vhile  the  author  kept  a  vigilant 
watch  to  keep  them  from  crossing  over  into  Texas  or  ad 
joining  counties.  At  the  time  peace  was  made,  it  was  ad 
mitted  by  the  law-abiding  people,  irrespective  of  party, 
that  the  command  of  Col.  Monks  had  completely  rid  the 
country  of  all  irregular  bands  of  rebels  and  had  made  it 
safe,  in  a  short  time  after  he  had  taken  command  of  the 
post,  for  forage  trains  and  all  other  classes  of  citizens  to 
pass  on  the  wire  road  from  Rolla  to  Springfield  unmolested, 
and  that  very  often  they  passed  through  without  an  escort. 

Battle  at  Mammoth  Spring. 

Col.  Wood,  commanding  the  Sixth  Missouri  cavalry, 
left  Rolla  on  the  7th  day  of  March,  1862,  with  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  scout 
south  into  the  counties  of  Oregon  and  Howell  and  Fulton 
county,  Arkansas,  to  ascertain  the  strength  of  the  rebel 
forces  in  that  portion  of  the  country;  reached  Licking  and 


148  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

went  into  camp.  The  next  morning  he  broke  camp  and 
marched  to  Jack's  fork,  in  Shannon  county,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  9th  marched  to  Thomasville ;  on  the  10th 
he  marched  to  Mammoth  Spring,  Arkansas.  On  reaching 
Mammoth  Spring  they  learned  that  there  was  a  rebel  force 
in  camp  on  the  south  fork  of  Spring  river,  just  below  Sa 
lem,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  llth  they  broke  camp  and 
marched  upon  the  rebels.  On  reaching  the  rebel  encamp 
ment  they  found  they  had  cut  timber  and  blockaded  the 
road,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  reach  the  forces,  except 
on  foot.  In  coming  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the 
rebels,  lying  concealed  behind  the  timbers,  they  opened 
fire  upon  the  advance  of  the  Federal  forces.  The  Federal 
forces  had  two  small  pieces  of  artillery  that  they  unlimber- 
ed  and  brought  into  use.  The  rebels  having  no  artillery, 
were  soon  dislodged  from  the  first  line  of  works,  and  they 
stubbornly  fell  back  about  one  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  went 
in  behind  the  second  fortifications  that  had  been  hurriedly 
erected.  After  fighting  for  an  hour  and  a  half  or  two  hours 
the  Federal  force  being  greatly  outnumbered,  and  the  re 
bels  having  themselves  so  obstucted,  Col.  Woods  saw  that 
it  was  useless  to  further  continue  the  fight  and  retreated. 
On  the  next  night  he  reached  Howell  Valley  just  below 
West  Plains  and  went  into  camp  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  13th  they  broke  camp  and  marched  in  the  direction  of 
Houston,  Missouri,  reaching  Houston  sometime  after  night. 
The  Federal  loss  in  the  battle  referred  to  was  seven  killed 
and  wounded.  The  Confederate  loss  was  said  to  be 
twenty -five  or  thirty  killed  and  wounded.  Colonels  Cole- 
man  and  Woodside  were  commanding  the  Confederates. 

Col.  Woods  being  in  command  of  the  post  at  Houston, 
learning  that  there  was  considerable  of  a  rebel  force,  stand 
ing  at  West  Plains,  Missouri,  under  the  command  of  Cole- 
man  and  others,  organized  a  scout  and  on  the  24th  day  of 


AND  NORTHERN  ARKANSAS  149 

February,  1862,  broke  camp  and  marched  in  the  direction 
of  West  Plains,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  the  rebel  for 
ces  stationed  at  that  place,  taking  two  small  mounted 
howitzers  strapped  on  mules,  made  a  forced  march,  and  in 
the  early  part  of  the  day  on  the  25th  reached  West  Plains. 
West  Plains  had  a  frame  court  house  in  the  center  of  the 
square  where  the  present  court  house  is  located.  The  road  at 
that  time  led  due  north  where  Washington  avenue  is  located 
until  it  struck  the  hill ;  also  there  was  a  road  which  led  east 
where  East  main  street  is  now  located  and  on  passing  what 
was  known  as  the  Thomas  Howell  farm,  turned  directly 
north  in  the  direction  of  Gunters  Valley.  The  rebels  had 
a  strong  picket  throwrn  out  on  both  roads ;  a  part  of  the 
rebel  command  was  quartered  in  the  court  house.  Woods 
being  advised  of  the  condition  of  the  rebels  and  where 
they  were  all  quartered,  supposing  that  ihey  would  take 
advantage  of  the  court  house  when  the  attack  was  made, 
selected  a  high  position  where  the  road  first  struck  the 
hill,  planted  his  artillery,  divided  his  forces  and  made  a 
flank  movement,  ordered  them  to  strike  the  lower  road  and 
advance  on  the  pickets  and  as  soon  as  they  were  fired  up 
on,  to  charge  them,  while  he  would  remain  with  the  other 
part  of  the  force  in  readiness  to  dislodge  them  with  his  ar 
tillery  in  case  they  used  the  court  house  as  a  fortification. 
On  the  advance  coming  in  sight  of  the  rebel  pickets,  they 
fired  and  retreated  with  the  Federal  forces  pursuing.  The 
rebel  forces  at  once  rallied  their  forces  and  took  possession 
of  the  courthouse.  As  soon  as  Col.  Woods  saw  them  file 
into  the  house  he  leveled  his  cannon  and  fired  a  shell  which 
struck  the  house  near  its  center  and  passed  clear  through ; 
that  was  the  first  artillery  that  the  rebel  command  ever  had 
heard.  They  filed  out  of  the  house  faster  than  they  went 
into  it ;  then  Col.  Woods  moved  with  his  forces  directly  upon 
the  forces  near  the  court  house  when  a  generel  engage- 


150  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

ment  ensued.  The  rebels  retreated  west  on  the  road  near 
where  West  Main  street  is  now  located  and  a  running  fight 
was  continued  for  about  one  mile,  when  Woods  abandoned 
the  pursuit,  marched  back  into  West  Plains,  and  again  re 
turned  to  Houston.  The  losses  on  both  sides  were  light, 
several,  however,  being  killed  or  wounded. 

"Uncle  Tommy"  and  His  Crutches. 

I  will  relate  an  incident  which  occurred  during  the  fight. 
Old  "Uncle  Tommy"  Howell  as  he  was  familiarly  known, 
resided  just  below  the  town  spring  a  short  distance  from  the 
road;  he  had  a  sister  living  with  him  who  was  an  old  maid, 
and  was  known  as  "Aunt  Polly".  Howell  being  one 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Howell  Valley,  had  taken  an 
active  part  in  organizing  Howell  county,  which  took  its 
name  from  him  and  he  had  been  once  representative  of  the 
county.  The  author  heard  him  relate  the  circumstance  in 
a  speech  delivered  in  West  Plains  after  the  war  was  over. 
He  said  when  the  fight  came  up  that  he  was  sitting  on  his 
front  porch :  all  at  once  he  heard  firing  commance,  and 
heard  horses  feet  and  saw  the  rebel  pickets  coming  on  full 
gallop  horseback,  with  the  Federals  close  onto  them  with 
pistols  in  hand  firing  on  them  ;  he  had  been  afflicted  with 
rheumatism  for  years  and  one  of  his  legs  was  drawn  crook 
ed  and  he  hadn't  attempted  to  walk  without  a  crutch  for 
several  years ;  when  he  saw  the  men  coming  and  the  others 
shooting  at  them,  he  supposed  that  every  shot  was  killing 
a  man ;  he  said  they  came  right  by  his  door  and  he  never 
became  excited  while  they  were  psssing ;  as  soon  rs  they 
got  near  the  court  house  they  then  made  a  stand,  where  it 
appeared  to  him  that  there  were  thousands  of  shots  being 
exchanged  every  minute.  They  had  all  passed  his  house 
and  he  was  sitting  there  unmolested,  when  his  sister,  who 
was  known  as  "Aunt  Polly"  ran  out  on  the  porch  and 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  151 

cried  out  at  the  top  of  her  voice  "Lord  a  massy,  Uncle 
Tommy,  run  for  your  life;  you  have  been  a  public  man  and 
they  will  kill  you,  sure."  He  said  it  so  excited  him 
that  he  sprang  to  his  feet.  All  below  his  house  the  valley 
was  covered  with  hazel  brush  and  snow  was  lying  on  the 
ground.  He  first  looked  toward  where  the  firing  was 
going  on  and  said  "My  God!  they  certainly  have  got 
them  very  near  all  killed  in  this  time"  for  he  was  under 
the  impression  that  every  shot  killed  a  man.  He  started 
southwest  from  his  house,  ran  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
jumped  over  behind  a  log;  he  had  hardly  gotten  still  wrhen 
he  imagined  he  heard  the  horses  feet  of  the  Federals  in  pur 
suit  of  him;  he  raised  up  and  looked,  could  not  see  any 
person,  so  ran  about  another  quarter,  jumped  over  behind 
another  log  and  as  soon  as  he  got  still,  the  first  thought 
came  into  his  mind  that  they  were  still  in  pursuit,  for  he 
could  hear  the  horses'  feet,  but  on  reflecting  a  moment  he 
found  that  it  was  his  heart  beating ;  he  said  he  could  still 
hear  the  firing  and  he  thought  they  intended  to  kill  them 
all  before  they  quit.  He  had  a  son-in-law  by  the  name  of 
Hardin  Brown  living  on  the  Warm  fork  of  Spring  river, 
about  twenty  miles  distant,  and  he  started  on  foot  and 
never  stopped  traveling  until  he  reached  his  house.  On 
reaching  the  house,  his  daughter  asked  him  how,  in  the 
name  of  God,  he  ever  got  there  without  his  crutches.  He 
said  that  was  the  first  time  that  he  had  thought  of  his 
crutches.  He  began  to  notice  his  legs  and  the  crooked  leg 
was  just  as  straight  as  the  well  leg.  He  said  that  it  com 
pletely  cured  him  of  his  rheumatism  and  he  had  the  use  of 
that  leg  just  the  same  as  he  ever  did  the  other  leg,  and 
never  used  a  crutch  afterwards.  After  the  war  he  removed 
to  Oregon  county  and  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  and 
died  a  member  of  the  legislature. 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Disposing  of  Union   Men. 

In  the  spring  of  1862  there  was  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Mawhinney,  living  about  six  miles  below  West  Plains, 
in  Howell  valley,  a  Union  man,  but  who  had  taken  no  part 
either  way,  except  to  express  an  opinion.  About  fifteen 
men  belonging  to  a  rebel  scout  went  to  his  house,  called 
for  their  dinners,  some  of  them  had  him  shoe  their  horses, 
and  after  they  had  their  horses  shod  and  got  their  dinner, 
they  told  him  that  they  wanted  him  to  go  with  them.  His 
wife  said  to  them  "It  ain't  possible  that  after  you  have 
been  treated  as  kindly  as  you  have  been  you  are  going  to 
take  Mr.  Mawhinney  prisoner;  you  men  certainly 
will  not  hurt  him."  They  made  no  reply,  carried  him 
about  one  half  mile  from  his  home,  shot  him  off  of 
his  horse,  took  the  horse  and  went  on,  leaving  the 
body  on  the  side  of  the  road.  His  wife  with  what  other 
help  she  could  get  brought  him  in  and  had  him  buried. 

About  two  weeks  afterwards,  in  the  spring  of  1862, 
there  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Bacon  who  lived  near  West 
Plains,  who  has  some  relatives  living  in  this  county  at  the 
present  time.  He  was  a  Union  man  but  had  taken  no  part 
either  way,  except  to  express  himself  openly  in  favor  of 
the  Union.  There  came  a  scout  of  about  twenty  men  and 
arrested  him,  started  west  with  him  in  the  direction  of 
South  Fork,  and  on  reaching  the  vicinity  where  Homeland 
is  located,  left  the  road  a  short  distance,  shot  him  off  of  his 
horse.  Went  on  to  a  house  about  one  mile  distant,  called 
for  their  dinner.  The  woman  in  preparing  dinner  fried 
some  bacon ;  after  they  were  seated  at  the  table  she  passed 
the  bacon  to  them ;  several  of  them  remarked  that  they 
didn't  want  any,  that  they  had  had  some  bacon,  but  had 
just  disposed  of  it  a  sort  time  before  they  reached  the  house. 
After  Bacon  had  laid  where  he  fell  dead  for  two  or  three 
days  he  was  found  and  being  considerably  decomposed  a 


AND  NORTHERN  ARKANSAS  153 

hole  was  dug"  and  the  body  placed  into  it  and    covered    up, 
where  his  dust  remains  until  the  present  day. 

Union  Supplies  Captured  by  Rebels. 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  the  department  commander  re 
established  the  military  post  at  Springfield.  All  of  the 
commissaries  and  forage  had  to  be  conveyed  from  Rolla  to 
Springfield,  as  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  was  at  Rolla, 
by  wagon  trains,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles.  It  required  a  large  escort  of  soldiers  to  guard  the 
trains  to  prevent  the  rebels  from  capturing  them.  All  of 
the  country  south  of  the  wire  road  was  in  possession  of 
the  rebels.  There  was  scarcely  a  wagon  train  that  passed 
on  the  road  without  being  attacked  by  the  rebels.  They 
made  their  attacks  generally  on  the  front  and  rear  of 
the  trains,  and  before  the  wagon  masters  could  corral  the 
trains,  they  would  capture  some  of  the  wagons,  make  the 
teamsters  drive  into  the  woods,  cut  the  mules  loose  from 
the  wagons,  take  sacks  of  coffee,  salt,  sugar  and  other 
commissaries,  tie  them  on  the  backs  of  the  mules,  divide 
into  small  bunches  and  retreat  into  the  hills.  Very  often 
the  escort  would  have  to  send  back  to  Rolla  for  reinforce 
ments.  The  train  would  be  tied  up  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
hours  before  it  could  move  on.  It  became  a  mystery  to 
the  Federal  commanders  how  the  Confederates  could  con 
centrate  a  force  of  men  numbering  from  fifty  to  three  hun 
dred,  and  the  first  intimation  the  escort  would  have,  they, 
the  rebels,  would  come  out  of  the  brush  at  some  secluded 
spot,  yelling,  \vhooping  and  shooting,  and  charge  upon  the 
wagon  train.  They  would  generally  capture  more  or  less 
of  the  loaded  wagons  with  the  above  results,  and  it  became 
a  question  with  the  military  authorities  at  Rolla  and  Spring 
field  how  to  capture  or  rout  these  bands,  and  as  to  how 
they  managed  to  keep  that  number  of  men  near  to  the  wire 


154  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

road  and  yet  the  Federals  were  unable  to  discover  their 
hiding  places. 

About  the  15th  day  of  August,  the  department  com 
mander  ordered  Capt.  Murphy  to  take  five  hundred  men 
and  two  pieces  of  artillery  and  move  south  from  Rolla ;  to 
go  as  far  south  as  he  thought  it  would  be  safe,  without 
placing  his  men  so  far  inside  of  the  Confederate  lines  that 
they  might  be  captured;  and,  if  possible,  to  learn  the  rebel 
movements  and  location  of  their  troops.  Capt.  Murphy 
broke  camp  at  Rolla  and  moved  south  about  fifteen  miles, 
was  fired  on  by  the  rebels  from  the  brush,  marched  about 
twenty-five  miles,  went  into  camp;  on  the  next  morning 
resumed  the  march,  hadn't  marched  more  than  five  miles 
until  they  were  fired  on  from  the  brush  ;  they  were  fired 
on  four  or  five  times  that  day,  and  went  into  camp  near 
Thomasville.  The  next  day  he  threw  out  skirmish  lines 
on  each  side  of  his  command,  and  resumed  the  march  down 
the  Warm  fork  of  Spring  river.  There  was  more  or  less 
skirmishing  all  clay.  He  camped  on  the  Warm  fork  and 
the  next  morning  marched  over  to  the  Myatt,.  where  we 
had  quite  a  skirmish.  The  rebels  again  retreated  in  the 
direction  of  the  Spring  River  mill,  where  they  were  said  to 
have  a  thousand  men. 

Here  the  command  countermarched  back  to  Rolla, 
having  captured  fifty  or  sixty  prisoners ;  the  Federals  had 
a  few  men  wrounded. 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  the  Federal  troops  advanced 
on  Springfield  from  Rolla.  The  rebels  retreated  west  and 
the  Federals  again  established  a  military  post  at  Spring 
field.  The  rebels  continued  to  retreat  west  until  they 
reached  Prairie  Grove,  where  they  concentrated  their 
forces  and  the  memorable  battle  of  that  name  was  fought, 
the  Federal  troops  being  victorious.  The  Confederates  re 
treated  from  the  state. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  155 

The  military  post  at  Springfield  being  over  one  hundred 
miles  west  of  Rolla,  the  terminus  of  the  South  Pacific  rail 
road,  three-fourths  of  the  distance  being  in  possession  of 
the  rebels,  all  the  forage  and  commissaries  had  to  be  con 
veyed  by  wagon  train.  The  main  rebel  forces  having  been 
driven  from  the  state,  and  all  of  the  country  south  of  the 
wire  road,  -w7ith  few  exceptions,  being  in  possession  of  the 
rebels,  the  Union  men  with  their  families  having  been 
driven  from  their  homes.  The  leading  Confederate  officers 
met  and  held  a  council  of  war  and  decided  to  change  their 
tactics.  The  first  thing  was  ^to  place  two  or  three  hun 
dred  well-armed  Confederate  soldiers  south  of  and  near 
the  wire  road  leading  from  Rolla  to  Springfield,  and  so 
harass  the  wagon  trains  that  the  government  wouldn't  be 
able  to  get  forage  and  commissaries  through  to  Springfield, 
and  thus  force  the  Federals  to  abandon  the  post.  In  fur 
therance  of  this  move,  they  ordered  their  soldiers  to  be 
taken  near  to  the  line  of  the  road  and  divided  into  squads 
of  from  five  to  twenty -five  men,  conceal  their  arms  and 
claim  to  be  private  citizens,  live  off  the  country  and  be  so 
arranged  that  when  a  wagon  train  was  about  to  leave  Rolla, 
they  could  be  called  together  on  short  notice ;  and  \vhen 
they  wanted  to  make  a  more  extensive  raid,  Confederate 
soldiers  from  as  far  south  as  the  head  of  Spring  river  would 
march  up  and  meet  them  and  make  a  general  raid. 

The  government  had  considerable  trouble  to  learn  the 
hiding  places  of  these  men,  but  they  finally  got  officers  who 
were  acquainted  with  the  country  and  men  who  were  bona 
fide  citizens,  and  knew  who  were  citizens  and  who  were 
not,  and  broke  up  their  hiding  places  and  drove  them  fur 
ther  south.  It  was  learned  that  a  part  of  this  Confederate 
force  was  composed  of  men  who  claimed  to  be  citizens 
when  they  \vere  not  making  their  raids. 


156  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Bravery  of  Captain  Alsup. 

In  the  summer  of  1863,  the  Federal  authorities  estab 
lished  a  military  post  at  Clark's  mill,  in  Douglas  county, 
Missouri,  on  Bryant's  fork  of  White  river,  erected  a  post 
and  stationed  some  Illinois  troops  under  the  command  of  a 
Colonel,  with  Capt.  Alsup's  company,  which  was  composed 
entirely  of  Douglas  county  citizens,  in  all  about  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  or  three  hundred  men.  Gen.  Joe  Shelby,  a 
Confederate,  with  about  five  hundred  troops,  made  a  forced 
march  from  Arkansas  and  during  the  night  time  surround 
ed  the  fort,  and  the  next  morning  had  his  artillery  in  read 
iness  to  open  fire.  He  ordered  a  complete  surrender  of  the 
garrison.  The  captain  of  the  fort  asked  for  a  few  minutes 
to  consider  the  matter;  at  the  expiration  of  the  time,  the 
Colonel  in  command  agreed  to  surrender,  stack  up  the 
guns  and  side  arms  in  the  fort,  march  his  men  outside  and 
make  an  unconditional  surrender.  When  the  commander 
of  the  fort  ordered  his  men  and  officers  to  stack  their  arms 
and  inarch  out,  Capt.  Lock  Alsup  and  his  company  refused, 
and  being  cavalry,  ordered  his  men  to  arm  themselves  and 
be  ready  to  move  whenever  he  ordered.  While  the  com 
mander  of  the  fort  was  having  the  remainder  of  the  garri 
son  stack  their  arms,  Capt.  Alsup  and  his  company  made  a 
bold  dash  for  liberty,  came  out  of  the  fort  shooting  right 
and  left,  took  the  rebels  by  surprise,  broke  the  rebel  line, 
went  through,  being  mounted  on  good  horses,  retreated  up 
Bryant's  fork  with  the  rebels  in  pursuit.  While  going 
through  an  old  field  that  had  grown  up  to  burrs  about  as 
high  as  a  man's  head,  Fritz  Krause,  father  of  the  assistant 
postmaster  at  West  Plains,  was  thrown  from  his  horse, 
rolled  under  the  burrs,  the  rebels  passed  by  and  never  saw 
him.  He  laid  in  the  burrs  until  dark,  then  made  his  es 
cape  and  rejoined  his  company  at  Springfield.  The  reb 
els  pursued  them  for  about  two  miles,  then  returned  to  their 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  157 

command.  Gen.  Shelby  paroled  the  prisoners,  and  such 
things  as  he  could  not  carry  with  him  he  destroyed,  the 
fort  being  burned.  He  resumed  his  march  in  the  direction 
of  Springfield  and  was  reinforced  by  about  five  hundred 
troops.  During  this  time,  Capt.  Alsup  and  his  men  had 
reached  Springfield  and,  strange  to  say,  hadn't  lost  a  man; 
had  a  few  slightly  wounded.  Gen.  Brown,  who  was  in 
command  of  the  post  at  Springfield,  was  said  to  be  a 
brother-in-law  of  Gen.  Shelby,  and  on  Shelby's  arrival  at 
Springfield  he  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  garrison. 
The  Federal  troops  held  a  consultation  and  concluded  to 
fight.  After  a  brief  engagement,  Gen.  Shelby  drew  his 
troops  off  and  moved  north ;  there  were  several  killed  and 
wounded  on  both  sides.  Gen.  Brown's  arm  was  broken 
by  a  piece  from  a  shell.  Gen.  Shelby  continued  his  raid 
towards  the  Missouri  river,  had  several  small  engagements 
and  then  retreated  from  the  state.  Capt.  Alsup  and  his 
brave  men  should  be  held  in  memory  by  all  comrades,  es 
pecially  by  the  loyal  people  of  Douglas  and  Ozark  counties, 
for  their  heroic  action  in  charging  through  the  rebel  lines 
and  making  their  escape  after  the  post  commander  had  at 
tempted  to  deliver  them  into  the  hands  of  trie  rebels. 

The  fort  at  Clark's  mill  was  never  rebuilt.  Capt.  Al 
sup  and  the  loyal  men  of  Douglas  and  Ozark  counties  and 
part  of  Wright  county  built  a  temporary  fort  near  the  cen 
ter  of  Douglas  county,  and  old  and  young  organized  them 
selves  into  companies  and  armed  themselves.  With  the 
help  of  Capt.  Alsup 's  company,  they  appointed  a  few  of  their 
men  as  scouts,  while  the  others  worked  in  their  fields. 
The  scouts  were  out  night  and  day  along  the  state  line  and 
if  a  rebel  scout  attempted  to  raid  the  counties,  notice  was 
given  all  along  the  line  and  the  men  were  all  up  in  arms 
and  ready  to  meet  the  raiders.  It  reminds  one  of  reading 
the  history  of  the  early  settlements  along  the  Indian  bor- 


158  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

der.  The  settlers  would  build  forts  and  put  out  sentinels; 
if  the  Indians  were  seen  advancing,  word  was  given  and 
the  families  would  hurry  to  the  fort  and  the  men  arm  them 
selves  to  drive  the  invaders  back.  So  this  organization, 
with  some  assistance  from  the  post  at  Springfield,  held 
Douglas  and  a  part  of  Ozark  and  Wright  counties  during 
the  remainder  of  the  Civil  War,  and  after  the  war  was 
over,  Douglas  county  gained  the  title  of  "Old  L,c>3ral  Doug 
las  County."  These  old  soldiers  and  comrades  are  fast 
falling  and  very  soon  there  will  be  none  left  to  tell  of  the 
heroisms  and  sacrifices  they  made  for  the  country  they 
loved.  Will  these  comrades  and  their  sons  and  daughters 
be  so  ungrateful  that  they  will  let  their  heroism  and  sacri 
fices  die  with  them  and  be  forgotten,  never  to  be  written  in 
history?  The  answer  will  be  no,  a  thousand  times  no. 
The  history  of  their  heroism  and  sacrifices  shall  be  written 
and  go  down  to  their  children  and  their  children's  children, 
and  may  "Old  Glory"  ever  wave  over  the  country  that  they 
love  so  well  and  for  which  tht-y  made  so  many  sacrifices. 

Bushwhacking  in  Howell   County. 

The  writer  wants  to  say  that  there  was  not  a  Union 
man  nor  a  single  Union  family  left  at  home,  from  Batesville, 
Ark.  to  Rolla,  Mo.,  a  distance  of  two-hundred  miles.  The 
writer  especially  wants  to  speak  for  Howell  Count}',  Mo. 
The  rebels  took  quite  a  number  of  Union  men  from  their 
homes  and  shot  them,  some  of  them  being  old  men.  I 
will  name  a  few  of  them  that  were  shot:  Morton  R.  Langs - 
ton,  the  father  of  T.  J.  and  S.  J.  Langston,  while  he  was 
hauling  wood;  Jeff  Langston,  one  of  the  firm  of  Langston 
Bros,  was  riding  on  the  wood  at  the  time  his  father  was 
shot.  I  asked  a  leading  rebel  after  the  war,  why  they  shot 
Langston.  His  reply  was:  "Pie  talked  too  much."  Shot 
Mawhinney,  Ea?on  and  a  number  of  others.  Now  I  want 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  159 

to  say  right  here,  notwithstanding  the  treatment  the  Union 
men  received  from  the  rebels,  not  a  single  Confederate 
was  ever  taken  from  his  home  and  shot  or  otherwise  in 
jured  during  the  whole  Civil  War  and  no  truthful  Confed 
erate  will  say  to  the  contrary.  There  never  was  but  one 
Confederate  hurt  after  being  taken  prisoner  in  Howell 
County  and  he  wasn't  a  citizen  of  Howell  County;  was 
said  to  be  a  north  Missouri  bushwhacker,  charged  with 
being  one  of  the  parties  that  shot  old  Mr.  Langston,  Maw- 
hinney  and  Bacon.  A  Federal  scout  in  the  year  1864 
captured  him  below  West  Plains  and  the  next  morning 
they  hung  him  to  a  smoke-house  rafter.  Notwithstand 
ing  a  few  of  the  friends  of  the  bushwackers  will  tell  to 
strangers  that  the  writer  shot  a  man  in  this  county,  by 
the  name  of  Hawkins,  in  the  lap  of  his  family,  which  is  a 
positive  lie ;  the  facts  are  these ;  Hawkins  was  one  of  the 
worst  bushwhackers  and  murderers  that  ever  lived  in 
Howell  County  and  was  commanding  a  company  of  bush 
wackers  at  the  time  he  was  shot.  A  short  time  before 
he  was  shot  he  had  captured  one  of  his  cousins,  by  the 
name  of  Washington  Hawkins,  a  Federal  soldier,  and  taken 
from  him  a  fine  mare  with  his  saddle  and  rig  complete. 

In  the  spring  of  1864,  a  battalion  of  the  llth  Mis 
souri  Cavalry,  commanded  by  Col.  Woods,  had  been 
ordered  to  report  to  Col.  Livingston  at  Batesville,  Ark. 
The  writer  had  been  ordered  to  report  at  Rolla,  Mo.,  with 
his  command.  Col.  Woods  had  camped  near  West  Plains 
the  previous  night,  the  next  morning  resumed  his  march 
towards  Batesville;  after  he  had  passed  West  Plains  a  few 
miles,  Hawkins  and  his  bushwhackers  fired  on  them  from 
the  brush  and  they  continued  to  fire  on  them  every  few 
miles  for  sixteen  miles.  Our  force  met  the  force  of  Col. 
Woods  at  the  state  line  where  Col.  Woods  informed  me 
how  they  had  been  firing  upon  his  men  all  morning.  He 


160  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

had  taken  a  man  prisoner  by  the  name  of  William  Krause, 
whom  he  turned  over  to  me.  Both  forces  resumed  the 
march,  he  in  the  direction  of  Batesville,  Ark.,  and  I  in  the 
direction  of  Rolla,  Mo.  The  prisoner  told  the  writer  that 
he  knew  the  parties  who  had  been  firing  on  Col.  Woods' 
command;  that  they  had  a  camp  by  a  pond  in  a  secluded 
place,  and  were  commanded  by  Hawkins  and  Yates;  that 
it  was  about  four  miles  almost  west.  I  told  Krause  if  he 
would  place  me  on  trail  he  could  then  go  home.  He 
did  so  and  I  then  released  him.  Krause  said  there  were 
about  fifty  rebels  in  the  command. 

We  trailed  them  about  two  miles  and  came  in  sight 
of  a  house  that  belonged  to  old  Mr.  Newberry,  a  Union 
man.  He  and  his  family  had  been  run  off  from  home. 
I  saw  a  horse  hitched  to  the  side  of  the  door,  and  suppos 
ed  there  were  more  inside  of  the  house ;  there  was  a  skirt 
of  timber  that  enabled  us  to  get  within  about  sixty  yards  of 
the  house.  I  ordered  my  men,  when  we  reached  a  given 
point,  to  charge  upon  the  house,  dismount  and  reach  the 
wall  of  the  house  and  demand  the  surrender  of  all  persons 
that  might  be  within.  We  were  about  fifteen  feet  from 
the  door  when  Hawkins  came  out  and  attempted  to  mount 
his  horse.  The  author  demanded  his  surrender,  but  he 
drew  his  pistol  to  fire,  the  author  having  his  pistol  already 
in  hand  and  presented,  fired  on  him;  the  author  was  sit 
ting  in  his  saddle  when  he  fired  on  him. 

The  men  examined  the  house  and  found  he  was  the 
only  man  in  it.  The  horse  he  was  riding  was  the  one  he 
had  taken  from  his  cousin,  Washington  Hawkins,  a  short 
time  previous,  with  a  government  rig  complete.  Washing 
ton  Hawkins  resided  at  Bakersfield,  Mo.,  and  got  his  horse 
and  rig  again.  We  took  the  trail  again,  but  dark  came  on  us 
and  we  lost  it.  These  are  the  facts  surrounding  the  whole 
case,  the  killing  of  Hawkins,  one  of  the  worst  bandits  and 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  161 

guerrillas  that  ever  roamed  through  South  Missouri  and  led 
the  worst  band  of  men  in  the  state.  I  had  previously  taken 
him  prisoner  and  he  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  went 
right  back  and  joined  his  com  man  :1  and,  if  possible,  he 
was  worse  than  before.  I  must  say  that  there  are  few  men 
in  Howell  county  that  claim  to  be  Confederates,  who 
tell  strangers  that  Monks  shot  Hawkins  down  in  the  lap 
of  his  family  and  that  he,  Hawkins,  was  a  good  man. 
The  writer  wants  to  say  that  no  truthful  Confederate  will 
tell  any  such  a  thing;  they  will  tell  you  that  Hawkins 
was  a  bad  man.  Ask  such  Confederates  as  Capt.  Howard, 
Mark  Cooper,  Judge  Dryer,  John  L,edsinger,  Harvey 
Kelow,  Daniel  Galloway,  P.  N.  Gulley  and  a  number  of 
others,  if  Hawkins  was  a  good  man. 

The  writer  wants  to  say  that  he  don't  believe  all  the 
Confederates  were  in  favor  of  killing  and  driving  out 
tlie  families  of  Union  men,  but  the  most  bitter  element 
got  in  power  and  being  backed  by  the  order  of  Gen. 
McBride,  to  force  all  the  Union  men  to  ioin  the  Con 
federate  service,  or  hang  them,  those  Confederates  who 
were  opposed  to  such  treatment  were  afraid  to  open 
their  mouths  for  fear  they  would  receive  the  same  treat 
ment.  You  don't  hear  these  same  men,  that  talked  about 
Monks  shooting  Hawkins,  say  a  word  about  Hawkins 
and  his  bushwhackers  shooting  Union  men  all  over  Howell 
county.  There  never  were  but  t\vo  houses  burned  in 
Howell  county  by  the  Union  men  during  the  Civil  war, 
and  houses  owned  by  these  men  had  been  previously 
burned  by  the  Confederates.  The  town  of  West  Plains 
was  burned  by  the  Confederates  to  keep  the  Federals 
from  holding  a  post  at  West  Plains. 

The  writer  wants  to  say  that  on  his  return  after  the 
war,  in  the  spring  of  1866,  he  met  the  rebels,  both  those  that 
had  been  officers  and  soldiers,  and  never  spoke  a  harsh 


162  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

word  to  them,  asked  them  if  they  thought  both  parties 
could  now  live  together;  their  answer  was,  that  they 
thought  they  could.  All  that  they  asked  was  that 
they  be  protected.  The  writer  assured  them  that  both 
Federal  and  Confederates  would  be  protected  by  the  civil 
laws  and  all  they  would  be  asked  to  do  would  be  to  aid 
in  a  strict  enforcement  of  civil  laws,  which  they  readily 
promised  to  do.  The  Union  men  who  had  returned  to 
their  homes  and  the  late  Confederates  joined  together 
and  went  to  building  and  repairing  old  church  houses  and 
school -houses  and  soon  were  found  worshiping  together 
in  the  same  church  and  sending  their  children  to  the 
same  school -houses  and  the  old  ties  that  had  existed  be 
fore  the  war  were  being  re -united.  The  country  appear 
ed  to  be  prosperous  and  the  old  war  spirit  appeared  to 
be  fast  dying  out  among  the  people. 

I  suppose  the  writer  holds  more  commissions  than 
any  other  man  in  the  state,  both  military  and  civil  and 
there  never  was  a  charge  preferred  against  the  writer  of  any 
failure  to  discharge  his  duties  by  the  government  or 
state.  While  in  the  military  service  thousands  of  dol 
lars  passed  through  the  hands  of  the  writer  for  forage 
and  commissaries  and  ordinance  stores  and  clothing, 
every  dollar  was  accounted  for  and  all  contraband  prop 
erty  was  turned  over  to  the  government.  I  never  con 
verted,  to  my  own  private  use,  five  cents  of  any  man's 
property  or  money,  before  or  after  the  war,  in  the  war, 
nor  since  the  war. 

The  writer  is  now  residing  within  about  twenty-five 
miles  of  where  his  father  located  in  the  year  1844  and 
there  are  several  persons  yet  living  that  have  been  in 
timately  acquainted  with  the  writer  since  his  boyhood  up 
to  the  present  time,  namely  James  Kellett,  Sr.,  Marion 
Kellett,  present  county  treasury  of  Howell  county,  Wash- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  163 

ington  Hawkins  of  Bakersfield,  Mo.,  and  quite  a  number 
of  others  that  have  been  acquainted  with  the  writer 
from  forty  to  fifty  years.  The  writer  wants  to  say  right 
here  that  he  is  not  ashamed  of  anything  he  did  before 
the  war,  in  the  war,  nor  since  the  war,  and  on  his  re 
turn  home  to  Howell  county  on  meeting  the  late  rebels; 
he  never  spoke  a  harsh  word  to  one  of  them,  but  re 
ceived  them  kindly  and  said  to  them  that  the  civil  laws 
should  be  strictly  enforced  against  all  alike,  Confeder 
ate  and  Federal. 

In  the  year  1861,  sometime  in  the  month  of  September, 
after  the  Federals  retreated  from  Springfield,  Mo.  and  the 
Confederates  had  taken  possession  of  Springfield,  there  was 
one  Capt.  Brixey  who  was  captain  of  a  conipany  of  home 
guards  residing  in  the  edge  of  Webster  County,  Mo.  ;  soon 
after  the  Confederates  took  possession  of  the  post,  they 
ordered  a  captain  belonging  to  a  Texas  regiment  to  detail 
one  company  and  proceed  to  the  residence  of  Capt.  Brixey 
and  arrest  him.  Capt.  Brixey  having  no  notice  of  the 
approach  of  the  scouts,  he  and  one  of  his  men  were  sitting 
in  the  house;  the  first  they  knew  they  had  a  line  within 
thirty  yards  of  his  door,  hailed  them  and  presented  their 
guns  and  demanded  their  surrender.  Capt.  Brixey  said, 

"The- you  say."     Both  parties    fired    on    each    other 

about  the  same  time,  the  man  with  Brixey  fell  dead, 
Brixey  shot  and  kil'ed  the  Confederate  captain  and  wound 
ed  one  or  two  other  Confederates  ;  -he  retreated  through  his 
house  and  into  his  orchard  and  made  his  escape;  one  of 
his  arms  was  broken  by  the  shot  from  the  rebels  from 
which  he  entirely  recovered  and  lived  many  years  after 
wards,  and  has  a  son  residing  in  this  county  at  the  present 
time. 


164  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Colonel  Freeman's  Second  Raid. 

Sometime  in  the  Spring  of  1862  Col.  Freeman,  not  be 
ing  satisfied  with  his  first  raid  on  the  Federal  troops  at 
Salem,  planned  the  second  raid  to  attack  the  troops  then 
stationed  at  Salem,  Missouri;  he  organized  his  scout  and 
compelled  one  Robert  Bolin,  who  now  resides  in  Howell 
County,  to  pilot  him  through  the  lines,  as  he,  Bolin,  had 
lived  near  Salem  before  the  war.  On  reaching  Salem,  Col. 
Freeman  halted  his  troops  and  planned  his  attack. 

The  Federal  troops  had  no  knowledge  of  the  approach 
of  any  rebel  forces ;  they  were  in  squads  around  Salem. 
Freeman  divided  his  forces  and  gave  them  a  countersign 
and  selected  a  spot  near  a  deep  ditch  in  the  road  and  in 
structed  them,  if  they  were  defeated  and  got  scattered  to 
concentrate  at  that  ditch  which  was  beyond  the  Federal 
lines  a  distance  of  some  miles;  on  reaching  the  ditch 
they  were  to  remain  until  they  all  were  collected.  After 
the  first  ones  reached  the  place,  it  being  dark,  if  they  saw 
others  approaching  they  would  halt  them  and  demand  the 
countersign,  and  if  they  couldn't  give  it  they  were  to  fire  on 
them  without  any  further  delay,  knowing  they  were  ene 
mies.  On  reaching  the  public  square  they  encountered  a 
bunch  of  the  Federal  troops  in  a  building;  fired  on  them, 
wounded  a  few,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Jacob  Shoffler  now 
residing  in  Kowell  County  was  in  the  house  at  the  time, 
and  they  cut  his  clothes  in  about  twenty  different  places 
with  bullets  and  never  drew  blood;  Maj.  Santee  was  com 
manding,  with  one  other  officer.  After  they  had  rallied, 
all  being  in  disorder,  Maj.  Santee  ordered  a  charge  on  the 
rebels.  Armed  with  an  old  pistol  he  met  Col.  Freeman  of 
the  Confederate  side.  Freeman  had  i list  shot  out;  Maj. 
Santee  ordered  his  surrender.  Col  Freeman  started  to 
run,  Maj  Santee  in  close  pursuit,  snapped  his  old  pistol, 
which  failed  to  fire.  He  then  threw  the  pistol  at  Col. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  165 

Freeman,  struck  him  somewhere  betwen  the  shoulders, 
drew  his  sabre,  and  still  continued  the  pursuit.  There 
was  a  creek  near  by  and  a  stone  fence  had  been  built  along 
the  side  of  it ;  the  creek  had  been  frozen  over  and  a  skiff 
of  snow  on  it  at  the  time.  Just  as  Freeman  reached  the 
stone  fence  Maj.  Santee  made  a  thrust  at  him  with  his 
sabre,  inflicting  a  slight  wound;  about  that  time,  for  the 
purpose  of  escaping,  Col.  Freeman  sprang  over  the  stone 
fence  and  lit  into  the  creek.  Maj.  Santee,  being  on 
horseback,  could  not  pursue  any  further.  The  rebels  by 
this  time  were  scattered  in  all  directions,  started  to  retreat. 
It  being  very  dark,  the  first  ones  fifty  or  sixty  in  number 
reached  the  ditch,  halted  to  wait  for  the  remainder  of  them 
to  collect.  In  a  shjrt  time  about  thirty  or  forty  more  of 
them  appeared  in  sight,  retreating  with  considerable  speed  ; 
they  were  halted,  the  countersign  demanded.  They  had 
become  so  excited  in  the  fight  they  had  forgotten  the 
countersign  and  failed  to  give  it.  So  those  who  arrived 
first  opened  fire  and  wounded  several  of  them,  scattering 
them  to  the  woods.  They  failed  to  concentrate  until  they 
had  retreated  south  about  30  miles  where  they  learned  of 
the  mistake  they  had  made  and  that  they  had  fired  upon 
their  own  men.  Maj.  Santee  being  of  the  opinion  that  he 
had  seriously  wounded  Freeman  with  his  sabre,  concluded 
to  investigate.  On  reaching  the  stone  fence  where  he  made 
his  leap  they  looked  over  into  the  creek  on  the  ice  and 
(Col.  Freinan  being  a  large  man)  it  looked  like  a  large  ox 
had  been  thrown  over  from  the  hole  that  he  made  in  the 
ice.  The}'  saw  that  he  had  crossed  the  creek  and  reached 
the  other  side  and  and  saw  no  signs  of  blood.  In  the  en 
gagement  there  were  about  five  or  six  wounded  and  killed. 
In  the  summer  of  1863  there  was  a  Federal  scout  or 
ganized  at  Springfield,  commanded  by  Col.  Holland.  It 
was  ordered  to  move  by  way  of  Douglas  county,  get  rein- 


166  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

forcements  then  stationed  at  the  fort,  and  from  there  march 
through  the  county  of  Ozark.  They  entered  the  county  of 
Fulton,  Ark.,  where  they  had  several  small  engagements. 
After  considerable  fighting  and  capturing  a  number  of  pris 
oners,  they  returned  to  Springfield;  loss,  killed  and 
wounded,  very  small. 

In  the  fall  of  1863,  Col.  Tracy,  with  a  force  of  rebels, 
made  a  raid  from  Fulton  county,  marched  up  through 
Ozark  county,  and  on  reaching  the  Union  settlement  in 
Douglas  county,  he  shot  and  killed  nearly  every  man  he 
captured,  robbed  houses,  took  everything  in  the  house  and 
out  of  doors,  and  burned  the  houses  as  he  went.  After 
raiding  and  pillaging  a  number  of  houses,  he  came  to  a 
house  where  a  Union  man  by  the  name  of  Mahan  and  one 
by  the  name  of  McCarty  were  working  in  the  blacksmith 
shop,  with  their  arms  near  them.  They  were  members  of 
the  home  guard.  The  rebels  demanded  the  surrender  of 
the  two  men,  and  as  it  was  generally  believed  that  if  a  man 
surrendered  to  those  irregular  forces  that  it  was  sure  death, 
they  refused  to  surrender.  When  the  forces  of  Col.  Tracy 
commenced  firing  through  the  cracks  of  the  shop,  the  men 
returned  the  fire.  Mahan  killed  one  rebel,  and  they 
wounded  two  or  three  others.  The  rebels  shot  McCarty 
down,  shooting  him  eight  or  ten  times  after  he  fell,  knocked 
the  door  down  and  rushed  upon  Mahan.  disarmed  him,  took 
him  prisoner  and  then  continued  their  retreat.  After  reach 
ing  Fulton  county,  near  the  bayou,  they  took  Mahan  into 
the  woods,  stripped  him  naked  and  shot  him,  leaving  his 
body  lying  on  the  ground  unburied.  Strange  to  say,  in 
regard  to  McCarty,  after  he  had  been  shot  eight  or  ten 
times  and  left  for  dead,  he  recovered  from  the  wounds  and 
became  hearty  and  stout. 

Some  time  in  the  early  part  of  the  spring  of  1864,  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Mahan  deserted  from  the  llth  Missouri 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  167 

cavalry,  stationed  at  Batesville,  and  on  reaching  Howell 
county,  about  two  miles  from  where  Valley  Star  school 
house  is  now  located,  a  bunch  of  bushwhackers  command-, 
ed  by  B.  F.  Hawkins  and  Thomas  Yates  captured  him, 
took  him  into  the  woods  a  short  distance,  stripped  him 
naked  and  shot  him,  leaving  his  body  lying  on  the  ground, 
unburied.  After  he  had  lain  there  nearly  a  week,  a  man 
now  residing  in  Howell  county  took  a  hoe  and  shovel  and 
raked  up  some  rocks  and  pitched  them  upon  the  decom 
posed  body  and  threw  a  few  shovels  of  dirt  on  him.  As  it 
was  but  a  short  distance  from  the  road,  the  stench  from  the 
decomposing  body  was  offensive  to  persons  who  trav 
eled  by. 

Col.  Monks  Enforces  the  Civil  Law. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1865,  the  author  was  ordered  to 
declare  the  civil  law  in  force  in  the  counties  of  Texas,  Dent, 
Shannon,  Oregon,  Howell,  Ozark  and  Douglas  and  report 
to  his  regiment  again  at  Springfield  for  the  purpose  of  being 
discharged.  Trie  long-looked -for  and  final  result  of  the 
war  had  come  with  victory  couched  upon  every  man  who 
had  borne  his  flag  to  the  breeze  of  his  country,  and  to  those 
who  had  lain  themselves  on  the  altar  of  their  country  and 
died  that  it  might  live. 

There  was  general  rejoicing  among  the  loyal  people, 
that  there  was  not  a  foot  of  territory  on  American  soil  but 
where  the  stars  and  stripes  once  more  floated  unmolested, 
either  by  foreign  or  domestic  enemies,  and  while  the  Con 
federates  had  fought  manfully  for  what  they  conceived  to 
be  right,  and  had  laid  many  of  their  sons  on  the  altar  and 
sacrificed  them  to  a  cause  that  they  believed  to  be  right, 
yet  a  large  majority  of  them  rejoiced  when  they  learned 
that  the  cruel  war  was  over.  Although  their  cause  was 
forever  lost,  yet  the  country  that  they  had  loved  so  well 
and  the  flag  still  floated  and  invited  them  back  as  erring  sons. 


168  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

The  16th  regiment,  with  a  large  number  of  other  reg 
iments,  was  discharged  at  Springfield.  Then  a  scene  en 
sued  that  Americans  had  never  witnessed  before ;  the  blue 
and  the  grey  began  to  meet  and  greet  each  other  as  friends 
and  seemed  to  forget  that  just  a  few  months  previous  they 
had  been  meeting  each  other  armed,  for  the  purpose  of 
slaying  one  another.  A  general  amnesty  proclamation  had 
been  granted  by  Gen.  Grant  to  all  the  rebels  who  had  sur 
rendered.  Their  officers  and  commanders  should  discharge 
them  and  they  should  be  allowed  to  retain  their  side  arms 
for  their  own  protection  and  return  home  for  the  purpose 
of  again  building  up  and  establishing  their  homes;  again 
meet  their  wives,  their  children,  fathers  and  mothers, 
neighbors  and  friends,  and  once  more  be  united  in  all  the 
ties  of  love;  to  again  reinstate  churches,  and  instead  of 
studying  and  practicing  the  art  of  war,  they  should  beat 
their  swords  into  pruning  hooks  and  aid  in  establishing  and 
building  up  society  and  good  government. 

But,  lo!  one  of  the  most  sad  and  heartrending  scenes 
confronted  many  Confederates  and  Federals  on  returning  to 
the  places  where  they  had  once  had  happy  homes  and 
sweet  families,  they  were  not  found.  During  the  terrible 
war,  many  of  the  loved  ones  that  they  had  left  behind  had 
been  called  from  time  to  eternity.  The  home  had  disap 
peared  and  nothing  was  left  but  the  soil;  all  of  the  im 
provements  being  entirely  destroyed.  But  they,  with  the 
courage  of  heroes,  gathered  the  fragments  of  their  families, 
went  to  work  improving  and  building  houses,  refencing 
their  farms,  recreating  church  houses  and  school  houses, 
and  in  a  short  time  the  men  who  had  lately  been  enemies 
and  borne  arms  against  each  other,  were  again  neighbors 
and  friends,  associating  together,  sending  their  children  to 
the  same  school,  becoming  members  of  the  same  church; 
all  experienced  the  difference  between  a  civil  war  and  peace 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  169 

and  fraternity.  Many  of  them  expressed  themselves  that 
they  had  read  of  civil  wars,  but  never  realized  the  effect  of 
civil  war  until  after  they  had  passed  through  the  present 
one;  but  they  could  not  understand  why  they  called  it 
"civil"  war,  for  if  there  was  anything  civil  about  the  war 
they  never  experienced  that  part  of  it. 

The  author's  family  had  been  residing  at  Rolla  during 
most  of  the  time  of  the  war.  He  commenced  making  prep 
arations  to  return  to  his  home  in  Howell  county  in  the  fall 
of  1865.  He  began  to  organize  an  immigration  party  of 
men  who  wanted  to  locate  in  Howell  county  and  a  number 
of  men  who  had  left  their  homes  in  that  county.  Just  a 
short  time  before  the  parties  were  ready  to  leave  Rolla  for 
Howell  county,  he  was  met  by  several  men  who  asked: 
''Why,  Monks,  ain't  you  afraid  to  go  back  to  Howell  coun 
ty?  You  have  fought  the  rebels  so  bitterly  and  contested 
every  inch  of  ground  during  the  whole  war,  and  some  of 
them  hate  you  so  badly,  that  I  would  be  afraid  that  they 
would  kill  me."  the  author  replied  that  he  felt  like  Gen. 
Putnam,  when  the  British  attempted  to  bribe  him  and  said 
that  the  colonies  never  could  succeed  in  gaining  their  in 
dependence,  and  that  he  had  better  return  and  renew  his 
allegience  to  the  Crown.  The  General's  reply  was,  "D — n 
a  man  that  is  not  for  his  country."  Now,  my  reply  to  you 
is,  that  I  have  forfeited  almost  all  of  my  means  and  shat 
tered  the  happiness  of  my  family  in  contending  and  fight 
ing  for  the  preservation  of  the  government;  besides,  my 
self  and  family  have  been  exiled  and  banished  from  our 
home,  and  if  the  rebels  had  succeeded,  all  would  have  been 
gone.  But  now  the  government  has  been  victorious  in 
crushing  the  rebellion,  liberty  and  protection  have  been  once 
more  guaranteed  to  every  citizen,  high  or  low, rich  or  poor, 
and,  in  the  language  of  Gen.  Putnam,  I  say,  "D — n  a  man 
that  is  afraid  to  go  back  and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  victory. " 


170  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Within  a  few  days  about  twenty- five  families  left  Rolla 
for  West  Plains,  and  on  arriving  at  West  Plains,  went 
into  camp.  There  was  not  a  single  building  left  in  West 
Plains,  as  the  Confederates  had  burned  the  whole  town  in 
time  of  the  war,  with  the  exception  of  one  store  building, 
which  was  burned  by  the  Federal  troops.  The  Confeder 
ates'  object  in  burning  the  town  was  to  prevent  the  Feder 
als  from  establishing  a  post.  The  author  procured  some 
clapboards,  built  an  addition  to  an  old  stable  about  two 
hundred  yards  south  of  where  James'  livery  stable  is  now 
located. 

Soon  after  WH  had  reached  West  Plains  and  gone  into 
camp,  Capt.  Howard,  Capt.  Nicks  and  a  number  of  other 
rebels  who  were  residing  in  the  county,  came  in,  met  the 
author  and  said  to  him:  "Captain.  I  am  proud  to  meet 
you."  The  author  replied,  "I  am  proud  to  meet  you. 
What  do  think  now  in  regard  to  the  two  parties  living  to 
gether?"  They  said  that  they  were  satisfied  that  both  par 
ties  could  live  together,  that  all  they  wanted  was  protection. 
The  author  remarked  that  the  rebels  had  been  in  control  of 
the  country  for  several  years,  but  the  loyal  men  were  go 
ing  to  take  charge  of  it  and  run  it  now,  and  as  the  loyal 
men  had  been  contending  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law 
and  claimed  that  every  American  citizen  was  entitled  to 
the  protection  of  the  law,  the  author  could  promise  them 
that,  if  they  would  fall  into  line  and  help  enforce  the  law, 
they  should  receive  equal  protection  with  any  other  class 
of  citizens;  to  which  they  replied  that  they  were  willing  to 
do  sp,  but  there  were  roving  bands  of  rebels  and  guerrillas 
which  had  not  been  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Confeder 
ate  authorities,  and  still  refused  to  lay  down  their  arms, 
and  might  yet  cause  some  trouble. 

The  author  was  appointed  sheriff  of  Howell  county, 
W.  Z.  Buck  circuit  and  county  clerk  and  Peter  Lem- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  171 

ons,  Judge  Alsup  and  -  -  were  appointed  county  judges. 
There  had  been  an  old  school  house  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  east  of  West  Plains  that  was  still  standing.  They 
met  at  that  school  house,  organized  and  set  the  civil  gov 
ernment  of  the  county  in  working  order.  Soon  after,  Gov 
ernor  Fletcher  ordered  an  election  and  the  author  was 
elected  to  the  state  legislature,  tendered  his  resignation  as 
sheriff,  which  was  accepted  and  W.  D.  Mustion  was  ap 
pointed  to  the  vacancy.  In  a  few  weeks  the  author  went 
to  Jefferson  City,  tendered  his  credentials  and  was  sworn 
in  and  became  a  member  of  the  legislature. 

Everything,  so  far  as  Howell  county  was  concerned, 
appeared  to  move  off  quietly,  while  the  counties  of  Oregon 
and  Shannon,  with  a  few  of  the  border  counties,  were  en 
tirely  controlled  by  irregular  bands  of  late  rebels,  wrho 
openly  declared  that  the  civil  law  should  not  be  enforced 
in  those  counties;  that  the  Confederacy  was  whipped,  but 
they  were  not  and  they  intended  to  live  off  the  government; 
they  were  armed  to  the  teeth. 

During  the  winter  of  1865  and  the  year  1866,  Howell 
county  settled  up  faster  than  ever  it  had  at  any  period  be 
fore  the  wrar;  the  men  who  had  homes  in  it  and  had  been 
forced  away  on  account  of  the  war,  mostly  returned  and 
commenced  to  improve  their  farms.  Their  houses,  out 
house  and  improvements,  generally,  having  been  destroyed, 
the  soil  was  the  only  thing  left.  The  town  also  built  up 
rapidly  and  in  the  }^ear  1866  the  inhabitants  had  increased 
to  six  or  eight  hundred. 

In  the  fall  of  1866  at  the  general  election  the  author 
was  re-elected  to  the  legislature  and  Capt.  Alley,  who 
had  been  a  Confederate  all  through  the  war,  was  elected 
to  the  legislature  from  Oregon  county.  The  author  again 
qualified  and  was  present  in  the  legislature  during  the 
whole  time,  when  the  great  question  was  brought  up  be- 


172  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

fore  the  legislature,  as  to  what  disposition  the  State  would 
make  of  the  first  liens  held  by  by  the  state  on  the  differ 
ent  railroads  for  aid  that  had  been  given  to  the  railroad 
corporations  in  the  way  of  state  bonds  in  1850.  In  1855 
the  state  issued  her  bonds,  delivered  them  to  the  com 
panies  and  they  went  east  and  put  them  upon  the  market 
in  New  York  and  Boston  to  procure  money  to  construct 
roads,  and  the  bonds  with  all  the  accruring  interest,  were 
due  the  state. 

Then  for  the  first  time  the  author  learned  that  many 
of  the  men  who  had  been  selected  to  represent  the  peo 
ple's  interest  in  the  State  Legislature,  failed  to  discharge 
the  duties  that  their  constituents  had  imposed  upon  them, 
betrayed  their  trust,  and,  through  money,  were  entirely 
controlled  in  the  interest  of  the  railroad  corporations.  The 
author  believing  that  it  was  one  among  the  greatest  duties 
that  were  imposed  upon  men  of  a  representative  govern 
ment,  to  strictly  contend  and  do  all  in  his  power  to  enact 
legislation  in  the  interest  of  the  people,  therefore  took  a 
strong  stand  in  favor  of  closing  out  all  of  the  state  liens 
against  the  different  roads,  held  by  the  state.  During  the 
session  of  the  winter  of  1866  what  was  then  known  as  the 
South  Missouri  Pacific,  which  terminated  at  Rolla,  Mis 
souri,  was  ordered  to  be  closed  out  and  the  road  declared 
forfeited.  A  resolution  passed  through  both  houses  of  the 
legislature  ordering  the  Governor  to  seize  it,  and  that  said 
road  be  run  by  the  state.  la  the  meantime  the  Governor 
was  to  aclverstise  and  sell  it.  The  Governor  by  authority 
of  law  advertised  it  and  sold  it  for  $550, 000.  Sometime  in 
April  the  legislature  adjourned,  to  meet  in  an  adjourned 
session  in  December,  1867.  The  author  returned  home. 

The  immigration  into  the  country  rapidly  increas 
ing,  prosperity  appeared  to  be  on  every  side;  people  had 
plenty  of  money,  good  crops,  wheat  was  worth  $1  to  $1.50 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  173 

per  bushel,  stock  of  all  kinds  brought  first-class  prices, 
peace  so  far  as  Howell  county  was  concerned,  prosperity 
and  the  bettering  of  the  condition  of  society  were  moving 
hand  in  hand,  and  the  author  felt  thankful  that  the  war 
was  over. 

Outlaw  Rule  in  Oregon  and  Shannon. 

In  the  fall  of  1867,  the  counties  of  Oregon  and  Shan 
non,  were  still  controlled  by  those  roving  bands  of  outlaws 
who  ruled  the  counties  with  an  iron  hand.  A  despotism, 
unequalled  at  any  stage  of  the  war,  existed  there.  There 
was  a  public  gathering  in  the  fall  of  1867  in  Thomasville. 
Col.  Jamison,  one  of  the  leaders  of  these  outlawed 
bands  rode  into  town  at  the  head  of  about  fifty  men,  well 
armed,  shot  two  men's  brains  out,  paraded  the  streets  and 
swore  that  any  man  that  attempted  to  enforce  the  civil  law 
against  them,  would  fare  the  same;  rode  out  unmolested 
and  there  was  not  a  single  attempt  made  by  the  civil  auth 
orities  to  arrest  one  of  them.  In  a  few  days  Jamison  with 
some  of  his  men  rode  into  town  and  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Philip  Arbogast,  the  father -in- law  of  Mr  Hill,  one  of  the 
firm  of  Hill-Whitmire  Mercantile  Co.,  now  doing  busi- 
in  West  Plains,  who  had  been  a  Confederate  all 
through  the  war,  remarked  in  the  hearing  of  Jamison, 
that  the  war  was  over,  and  he  believed  that  the  civil  law 
ought  to  be  enforced.  Jamison  at  once  dismounted,  cock 
ed  his  pistol,  approached  Arbogast  and  comenced  punch 
ing  him  with  the  muzzle  of  it  until  he  inflicted  some  wounds 
remarking  to  him  that  if  he  ever  heard  of  him  uttering  a 
word  again  in  favor  of  the  civil  law  being  enforced  that  he 
would  hunt  him  up  and  shoot  his  brains  out. 

Some  time  previous  to  that  occurrence,  two  men  who 
had  been  discharged  from  the  Federal  army  and  had  once 
resided  in  Oregon  county,  came  into  the  county  to  look  at 


174  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

their  old  homes.  Col.  Jamison,  with  about  forty  men,  ar 
rested  them,  took  them  to  the  house  of  the  sheriff,  inform 
ed  the  sheriff  that  no  "Feds''  could  ever  reside  in  Oregon 
county,  and  no  damn  Black  Republicans  could  ever  cast  a 
vote  at  any  election  that  was  held  in  the  county;  that  they 
were  going  to  make  an  example  of  the  men,  that  others 
might  take  warning;  that  they  were  going  to  take  them  out 
far  enough  away  that  their  stench  would  not  annoy  good 
Confederates.  Accordingly,  they  started  from  the  house, 
took  them  about  one-half  mile,  stripped  them  naked,  shot 
them  to  pieces,  returned  to  the  sheriff's  house  with  the 
clothing,  which  was  the  uniform  they  had  worn  in  the  ser 
vice,  horse  and  mule  and  saddles  which  they  had  been  rid 
ing;  gave  the  mule  to  the  sheriff,  took  the  horse  with 
them,  published  what  they  had  done,  and  said  that  those 
men  shouldn't  be  buried  and  that  if  any  Confederate  buried 
them,  they  would  share  the  same  fate. 

Capt.  Alley,  who  had  been  a  Confederate  all  through 
the  war,  but  was  an  honest  man  and  wanted  to  see  the  law 
enforced,  in  formed  Governor  Fletcher  of  the  condition  of 
the  county.  Governor  Fletcher  at  once  appointed  him  an 
enrolling  officer,  ordering  him  to  enroll  and  organize  the 
count}7  into  militia  companies,  to  form  a  posse -comitatus  to 
aid  the  sheriff  in  enforcing  the  law.  As  sood  as  he  received 
his  commission,  he  rode  into  the  different  townships,  put 
up  his  notices  requesting  the  people  to.  meet  him  for  the 
purpose  of  enrolling.  Jamison,  with  about  forty  men,  rode 
into  the  township  where  his  first  meeting  was  to  be,  posted 
another  written  notice  on  the  same  tree,  the  purport  of 
which  w7as  that  if  Capt.  Alley,  the  old,  white-headed 
scoundrel,  appeared  on  the  day  to  carry  out  the  orders  of 
the  Governor,  he  would  meet  him  and  shoot  his  old  head 
off  his  shoulders.  Allej",  being  satisfied  that  he  would 
carry  out  his  threat,  went  to  the  place  before  daylight  and. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  175 

concealed  himself  nearby.  About  10  o'clock  on  the  day 
appointed,  Jamison  and  about  forty  followers  came  charg 
ing  in  on  their  horses,  revolvers  in  hand,  cursing  and  de 
claring  that  they  would  like  to  see  the  old  white-headed 
scoundrel  put  in  an  appearance  so  they  could  make  an  ex 
ample  of  him;  that  they  didn't  intend  to  let  any  man  en 
force  the  law  against  them.  As  soon  as  they  retired  Alley 
returned  home  and  wrote  to  the  Governor  again,  stating 
the  acts,  conduct  and  threats  that  Jamison  had  openly 
made,  and  that  troops  would  have  to  be  sent  into  the  coun 
ties  to  aid  him  and  others  in  organizing,  so  the  civil  law 
could  be  enforced.  He  asked  the  Governor  to  appoint 
Capt.  Monks  to  command  the  troops  which  he  m'ight  ssnd. 
The  author  received  a  letter  from  the  Governor  in 
forming  him  of  the  condition ;  also  stated  in  the  letter  that 
while  Howell  county  was  peaceable  and  law  abiding, 
that  her  citizens  were  not  safe,  by  any  means,  while  such 
a  desperate  bind  of  outlaws  were  right  at  their  very  door, 
bidding  defiance  to  the  civil  law,  committing  all  manner  of 
crimes  from  murder  down  and  begging  the  author  to  con 
sent  to  his  being  appointed  Major  of  State  troops;  that  he 
would  make  an  order  for  the  author  to  organize  the  men 
in  the  county  of  Howell  and  include  Howell  county  in  his 
order,  delcaring  them  to  be  under  martial  law  especially 
when  it  had  been  requested  by  Capt.  Alley,  who  had  been 
a  life -long  Confederate.  The  author  took  the  matter 
under  advisement,  and  as  Jamison,  with  his  band  of  men, 
had  threatened  time  and  again  to  raid  Howell  county  and 
kill  the  author  with  other  Union  men,  he  decided  to  give 
his  consent  to  the  Governor,  wrote  him  while  he  reluctantly 
would  consent  to  accept  the  appointment  he  had  thought 
that  he  had  discharged  his  duty  in  the  late  war  and  would 
not  be  required  to  take  part  in  any  further  military  opera 
tion. 


176  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Colonel  Monks  Commissioned  by  the  Governor. 

The  governor  at  once  appointed  and  commissioned  the 
author  Major  of  state  troops  and  ordered  him  to  at  once 
proceed  and  organize  a  company  of  militia,  and  at  the  same 
time  sent  one  hundred  Springfield  rifles  and  one  hundred 
rounds  of  amunition  for  each  gun.  And  soon  as  it  was 
organized,  he  was  to  proceed  to  Oregon  county,  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  and  supporting  Captain  Alley  who  had 
been  appointed  enrolling  officer  of  Oregon  county,  to  en 
roll  and  form  companies  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the 
sheriff  in  enforcing  the  civil  law.  He  was  to  pursue,  ar 
rest  and  drive  out  those  roving  bands  of  murderers  from 
the  counties  of  Oregon,  Shannon  and  Dent.  The  author 
at  once  organized  a  company  in  Ho  well  county,  com 
posed  of  men  who  had  been  in  the  Confederate  and  Fed 
eral  service.  On  Jamison  and  others  in  Oregon  county 
learning  that  the  author  had  been  appointed  Major  and  that 
he  was  organizing,  and  the  state  was  arming  the  men 
with  orders  to  enter  the  counties  of  Oregon,  Shannon 
and  Dent  to  drive  out  the  murdering  bands  and  aid 
Captain  Alley  in  organizing'  a  posse  comitatus  to  aid  the 
sheriff  in  enforcing  the  civil  law,  they  publicly  declared 
that  "old  Monks  might  get  into  Oregon  county  but  that 
he  would  never  get  out  alive. 

At  that  time  there  was  a  secret  order  in  the  counties  of 
Oregon  and  Shannon  known  as  the  Sons  of  Liberty.  The 
author  was  informed  that  on  a  certain  night  they  wrould 
hold  a  meeting  on  Warm  .fork  of  Spring  river.  The  auth 
or  made  a  forced  march  and,  on  reaching  the  place  where 
they  had  assembled,  surrounded  the  house  and  took  all  the 
inmates  prisoners,  among  them  being  the  sheriff  of  the 
county  and  a  few  other  prominent  men.  The  next  morn 
ing  Capt.  Alley  met  the  author,  put  up  his  notices  order 
ing  every  man  to  come  in  and  enroll  his  name.  The  auth- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  177 

or  remained  over  the  next  day  near  the  place,  got  in  pos 
session  of  their  papers,  with  a  secret  oath  placed  upon 
them,  and  the  [aims  and  objects,  binding  themselves  to 
gether  to  prevent  the  enforcement  of  the  civil  law,  and  fur 
ther  binding  themselves  to  capture  or  take  property  from 
any  man  who  had  been  in  the  Federal  army,  and,  when  it 
became  necessary  to  enforce  it,  to  shoot  men  down.  They 
claimed  to  have  lawyers  connected  with  it,  so  that  if  they 
should  be  arrested  they  were  to  make  a  pretense  of  a  trial 
and  allow  no  man  to  go  onto  the  jury  except  those  who  be 
longed  to  the  order. 

Capt.  Greer,  who  had  been  a  Captain  in  the  Confeder 
ate  service  all  through  the  war,  and  afterwards  was  elected 
to  the  state  legislature,  remarked  that,  "I  can  soon  tell 
whether  those  grips,  obligations  and  oaths  were  in  the  or 
ganization  known  as  the  Sons  of  Liberty;"  said  that  "Old 
Uncle  Dickey"  Boles,  a  short  time  previous,  came  to  him 
and  informed  him  that  the  Sons  of  Liberty  were  going  to 
hold  a  meeting  in  a  big  sink  on  the  mountain  and  they 
wanted  him  to  come  and  join  it;  that  he  was  looked  upon 
as  a  business  man  and  he  didn't  know  anything  about  what 
was  going  on  right  at  his  door ;  that  if  he  would  come  and 
join  it,  in  a  few  years  he  would  be  a  rich  man.  Capt. 
Greer  said  he  replied  to  him,  "Uncle  Dickey,  I  have  al 
ways  been  an  honest  man  and  have  worked  hard,  and  if  a 
man  can  get  rich  in  two  or  three  years  by  joining  that  or 
der,  there  must  be  something  dishonest  in  it."  Old  Un 
cle  Dickey  replied:  "You  won't  be  in  a  bit  of  danger  in 
joining  it,  for  we  are  so  organized  that  the  civil  law  can't 
reach  us."  Capt.  Greer  said  he  had  a  son-in-law  who  was 
requested,  at  the  same  time  he  was,  to  attend  the  meeting, 
and  that  after  the  meeting  he  saw  him  and  asked  him  what 
kind  of  an  organization  it  was.  He  said  his  brother-in-law 
told  him,  "I  dare  not  tell  you;  I  took  the  bitterest  oath 


178  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

that  I  have  ever  taken  iu  my  life  not  to  reveal  the  workings 
of  the  order  on  penalty  of  death.  But  I  will  tell  you 
enough;  Captain,  I  know  that  you  are  an  honest  man  and 
that  that  organization  is  a  damn  jay-hawking  institution, 
and  you  want  nothing  to  do  with  it."  Captain  Greer  at 
once  sent  for  his  brother -in  la\v;  he  came,  and  the  signs, 
grips  and  by-laws  that  were  captured  at  the  place  of  the 
meeting  w  re  submitted  to  him  and  he  said  he  believed  they 
were  word  for  word  thp  same,  and  contained  the  very  same 
oath  that  the}7  swore  him  to  on  the  night  that  he  went  to 
their  meeting. 

The  author  was  informed  that  Jamison  was  then  lying 
in  wait  on  the  road  that  led  from  Warm  Fork  to  Frederick 
Fork  township,  the  next  place  where  Alley  had  notified 
them  to  meet,  waiting  for  the  author  to  pass  with  his  men, 
so  that  he  might  nre  on  them  from  the  brush.  Then  the 
hardest  ta.sk  confronted  the  author  that  he  ever  had  had  to 
meet,  to  study  out  a  plan  to  prevent  Jamison  firing  on  his 
men  from  the  bush  as  he  marched  by.  He  held  four  men 
as  prisoners,  whom  he  knew  were  Jamison's  right-hand 
bowrers ;  he  had  just  been  informed  that  Jamison  had  a  spy 
then  on  the  ground  to  learn  the  time  the  author  would 
break  camp  and  move  in  the  direction  of  Fredericks  Fork. 
He  ordered  a  wagon  brought  up  with  three  spring  seats, 
took  the  four  prisoners  and  set  them  in  the  two  front  seats, 
ti^d  a  small  rope  around  their  bodies  and  around  each  seat, 
with  two  guards  in  the  back  seat;  then  arrested  Jamison's 
spy,  informed  him  what  his  business  was,  which  he  admit 
ted  and  said  that  Jamison  was  lying  in  wait  to  learn  what 
time  I  would  move  out,  and  that  he  intended  to  fire  on  me 
as  soon  as  I  came  within  reach.  I  took  him  to  the  wagon 
and  asked  him  if  he  was  acquainted  with  the  prisoners. 
He  said  that  he  was.  '}  "Well,"  said  I,  "I  am  going  to  re 
lease  you  and  I  want  you  to  go  and  tell  Jamison  that,  just 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  179 

as  certain  as  he  fires  from  the  brush  and  kills  one  of  my 
men,  I  will  retaliate  by  killing  these  four  men,  whom  I 
know  are  his  right-hand  bowers."  The  author  also  wrote 
a  letter  containing  the  same  statement,  and  sent  another 
man,  who  was  a  Confederate,  with  Jamison's  spy,  to  see 
that  the  message  was  delivered. 

On  reaching  Jamison,  they  delivered  the  message  and 
informed  him  of  what  I  had  said,  and  told  him  that  there 
was  no  possible  chance  for  these  men  to  escape,  for  there 
was  a  rope  tied  around  each  man's  body  and  fastened  to 
the  spring  seat,  and  they  were  also  under  a  strong  guard. 
The  man  who  went  to  carry  the  dispatch  said  that  after 
Jamison  read  it,  he  appeared  to  be  in  trouble  and  remarked: 
''Well,  we  will  have  to  desist  and  not  fire,  for  just  as  cer 
tain  as  we  fire  on  him  and  kill  some  of  his  men,  he  is  sure 
to  kill  our  men."  One  of  the  prisoners,  after  he  was  placed 
in  the  wagon  and  heard  the  message  sent  to  Jamison,  re 
marked  to  the  other  prisoners:  "We  are  dead  men,  for 
Jamison  is  sure  to  fire  on  them."  We  soon  broke  camp, 
and  on  reaching  the  place  where  Jamison  had  been  waiting, 
saw  the  camp  fire  and  where  their  horses  had  been  tied  and 
fed,  but  there  was  not  a  man  to  be  seen,  neither  was  there 
a  gun  fired. 

On  reaching  Fredericks  Fork  township,  Capt.  Alley 
made  a  speech  to  the  people  and  said,  among  other  things, 
that  the  counties  of  Oregon  and  Shannon  had  been  con 
trolled  by  one  of  the  most  desperate  class  of  men  that  ever 
lived.  That  they  had  ridden  through  the  country  on 
horseback,  heavily  armed,  defying  the  enforcement  of  the 
civil  law,  intimidating  the  people,  both  Federal  and  Con 
federate  alike,  and  committing  all  manner  of  crimes,  rob 
bing  and  murdering  the  people  and  boasting  openly  that  the 
damn  Confederacy  was  whipped,  but  !that  they  were  not 
and  intended  to  live  off  the  damn  "Feds."  Now  the  war 


COL.  AND  MRS.  MONKS  AT  CLOSE  OF  WAR. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  181 

is  over  and  all  good  citizens,  be  they  Federal  or  Confederate, 
should  be  in  favor  of  the  enforcement  of  the  civil  law.  "I 
am  ordered  by  the  governor  of  the  state  to  enroll  all  able- 
bodied  men  in  the  county  to  form  a  posse  to  aid  the  sheriff 
in  enforcing  the  law  in  Oregon  county ;  I  am  to  organize 
companies  to  enforce  the  civil  law.  These  bushwhackers 
and  thieves  have  terrorized  this  county  long  enough.  The 
governor  has  sent  Capt.  Monks,  a  man  who  is  not  afraid 
of  bushwhackers  and  thieves,  into  this  county  to  arrest 
these  bushwhackers,  thieves  and  murderers  and  bring  them 
to  justice.  If  the  people  of  this  county  want  the  civil  law 
enforced,  they  should  aid  Capt.  Monks  and  his  men  to 
hunt  these  fellows  down  and  either  arrest  them  or  drive 
them  from  the  county.  Our  people  have  been  present  and 
saw  these  men  commit  all  manner  of  crimes,  from  murder 
down  to  the  smallest  crime  known  to  the  criminal  code. 
They  have  done  this  openly  and  the  people  were  afraid  to 
open  their  mouths  or  say  a  word  against  it,  on  penalty  of 
death.  I  wrote  the  governor,  stating  the  condition  of  af 
fairs  in  this  county,  that  neither  person  nor  property  were 
safe,  and  to  send  Capt.  Monks  to  this  county.  And  he  has 
sent  him  and  we  have  got  the  right  man  in  the  right 
place." 

One  of  the  prominent  men  of  Oregon  county  went  to 
Jefferson  City  to  see  the  governor  to  procure  the  removal 
of  the  writer  and  have  Col.  A.  J.  Sea  appointed  in  his 
place.  He  said  to  the  governor  that  Capt.  Monks  was 
arresting  some  of  the  best  men  in  Oregon  county  and  had 
them  prisoners.  The  governor  showed  him  some  of  Capt. 
Alley's  letters  that  he  had  written  to  the  governor.  The 
letters  stated  among  other  things  that  persons  and  property 
were  at  the  mercy  of  these  desperadoes  and  the  county 
was  being  terroized  by  James  Jamison  and  his  men ;  that 
they  were  robbing  whom  they  pleased  openly ;  that  a  day 


182  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

or  two  before  he,  Alley,  wrote  the  letter,  that  Jamison 
shot  a  man's  brains  out  in  Thomasville,  and  dared  any 
man  to  say  he  was  in  favor  of  the  enforcement  of  the  civil 
law,  that  he  would  serve  him  the  same  way.  The  gover 
nor  asked  him  if  those  things  were  true,  and  he  replied  that 
they  were;  the  governor  said  to  him:  "You  are  a  leading 
man  in  that  county  and  a  citizen  of  Thomasville  and  never  a 
word  have  you  written  to  me  that  such  terror  and  lawless 
ness  existed  in  your  county."  He  replied  "Governor,  I 
was  afraid  to."  The  governor  replied  to  him,  "when  I 
send  a  man  down  there  that  is  not  afraid  to  handle  those 
men  without  gloves,  then  here  you  come  with  a  howl.  Now 
I  expected  when  I  sent  Capt.  Monks  down  there,  if  he  did 
his  duty,  that  there  would  be  a  howl  raised;  I  am  satis 
fied  that  he  is  doing  his  duty.  I  am  responsible  for  his 
acts  and  you  men  want  to  get  rid  of  him ;  go  home  and 
tell  your  people  to  organize  companies  under  Captain  Al 
ley  and  aid  Captain  Monks  and  his  men  in  arresting  and 
driving  those  bushwhackers  and  bandits  out  of  your  coun 
try  and  whenever  Captain  Monks  reports  to  me  that  the 
person  and  property  of  your  citizens  are  secure  and  that 
the  civil  law  is  being  enforced,  he  will  be  removed,  and 
not  before." 

They  then  employed  Colonel  A.  J.  Sea  as  an  attorney. 
Some  time  during  the  night,  while  we  were  encamped  on 
Fredericks  Fork,  some  of  the  soldiers  took  the  sheriff  out 
and  put  a  rope  around  his  neck  to  make  him  tell  where 
the  bones  of  two  soldiers  were,  who  were  murdered  by  Jam 
ison  and  his  men.  He  admitted  that  he  knew  where  the 
bones  of  the  two  Federal  soldiers  were ;  that  after  they 
shot  them  Jamison  gave  him  the  mule  and  saddle  that, 
one  man  was  riding ;  that  he  was  afraid  not  to  to  take  them 
and  promised  as  soon  as  the  command  reached  Thomasville 
to  go  and  show  the  bones.  On  the  next  morning  after  our 


184  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

arrival  at  Thomasville  I  procured  a  big  box  and  placed  it 
in  a  wagon  and  brought  the  sheriff  from  the  guard  house 
and  set  him  on  a  box  under  a  strong  guard.  About  that 
time  Colonel  A.  J.  Sea  came  up  and  asked  what  we 
were  going  to  do  with  that  man.  I  told  him  "That 
is  my  business ;  when  you  was  in  the  military  service 
did  you  inform  the  civilians  of  your  object  and  aims? 
You  are  a  civilian  now  and  I  will  give  you  five  minutes 
to  get  outside  of  the  lines  or  you  will  go  into  the  guard 
house."  He  took  me  at  my  word  and  left  at  once. 

The  sheriff  piloted  the  scout  to  the  bones  of  the 
men  that  had  been  murdered,  and  the  sheriff ,  aided  by  the 
scout,  picked  up  the  bones  and  placed  them  in  the  box. 
On  examination  it  was  found  that  three  bullets  had 
passed  through  one  of  the  skulls,  and  the  other  skull 
appeared  to  have  been  shot  all  to  pieces.  I  brought  the 
bones  in  and  caused  them  to  be  buried  in  a  cemetery, 
about  one  mile  west  of  Thomasville. 

Captain  Alley  had  completed  the  organization  of  two 
companies,  one  commanded  by  Captain  Lasley  and  the 
other  by  Captain  Bledsaw.  The  companies  were  mostly 
composed  of  men  who  had  been  late  Confederates,  as 
there  \vere  very  few  Union  men  in  the  country.  They 
immediately  fell  in  with  my  soldiers  and  a  vigorous 
search  was  at  once  made  for  Jamison  and  his  men.  Be 
ing  aided  by  men  who  were  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  county  and  knew  just  where  to  look  for  Jamison 
and  his  cut-throats,  they  agreed  to  keep  on  Jamison's  track 
and  arrest  him  and  his  men  if  possible,  in  Oregon  county. 
I  moved  my  troops  up  into  Shannon  county  to  prevent 
Jamison  and  his  men  from  crossing  over  into  Shannon 
and  scouted  that  county  to  keep  them  from  hiding  there. 
The  Oregon  county  companies  shot  and  killed  some  of 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  185 

them  and  arrested  others.  Jameson  and  the  others  left  the 
county  and  never  have  returned  to  it  since. 

But  they  left  some  of  their  sypathizers  in  the  county, 
and  the  only  weapons  left  them  were  their  tongues;  hav 
ing  no  conscience  or  principle,  and  instigated  by  the  wicked 
one,  they  began  lying  and  preferring  all  manner  of  charges 
against  the  writer  and  his  men  who  went  into  the  county 
and,  by  the  aid  of  the  law-abiding  citizens,  drove  out  and 
arrested  one  ot  the  worst  set  of  men  that  ever  lived,  the 
savage  not  excepted,  and  restored  the  civil  law,  so  that 
every  citizen  was  secure  in  person  and  "property. 

The  writer  informed  the  governor  that  a  large  majority 
of  the  citizens,  both  Confederate  and  Federal,  had  nobly 
responded  to  his  call,  had  organized  two  companies  of  mil 
itia  to  aid  the  sheriff  in  the  enforcement  of  the  civil  law; 
Jamison  and  his  bushwhackers  had  either  been  arrested, 
killed  or  driven  from  the  county,  and  the  strong  arm  of  the 
military  law  was  not  needed  any  longer. 

On  December  25,  1867,  the  writer  was  ordered  by  the 
governor  to  withdraw  his  forces  from  the  counties  that  had 
been  placed  under  martial  law  and  declare  the  civil  law  to 
be  in  full  force  and  effect.  I  accordingly  returned  to  How- 
ell  county  and  disbanded  my  soldiers. 

During  my  march  and  stay  in  the  counties  of  Oregon 
and  Shannon,  it  was  admitted  by  all  honorable  Confeder 
ates  that  I  had  enforced  a  strict  discipline  over  my  men 
and  protected  all  classes  of  citizens  in  person  and  property, 
had  paid  the  people  for  all  forage  and  comissaries  that  were 
required  for  the  soldiers,  and  had  driven  out  the  worst  set 
of  bushwhackers,  thieves  and  murderers  that  ever  lived. 


186  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 


REMINISCENCES. 


Ill  the  spring  of  1866  the  loyal  men  had  mostly  re 
turned  to  their  homes;  among  them,  Benjamin  Alsup,  who 
had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  rebels  in  1861  and  confined 
in  the  penitentiary  at  Little  Rock,  Ark.  He  was  released 
in  1865,  when  peace  was  made.  There  was  but  one  house 
left  in  West  Plains,  an  old  school  house  about  one -quarter 
of  a  mile  east  of  the  town  spring,  which  was  used  for  a 
court  house.  Judge  Van  Wormer,  who  resided  at  Rollae 
was  judge  of  the  circuit  court  and  Mr.  Perry  was  circuit 
attorney.  A  short  time  after  the  return  of  Mr.  Alsup,  a 
public  meeting  of  the  loyal  men  was  called,  signed  by  sev 
eral  loyal  men.  At  the  date  set  the  writer  was  present. 
The  meeting  was  called  to  order  and  Mr.  Alsup  was  elected 
chairman.  He  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  among 
other  things  said:  ''The  rebels  have  hung,  murdered, 
imprisoned  and  driven  all  the  Union  men  from  their  homes, 
and  by  the  living,  they  didn't  intend  that  a  single  rebel 
should  live  inside  the  limits  of  Howell  county."  He  was 
in  favor  of  giving  them  ten  days'  notice  to  leave  the  coun 
ty,  and  if  they  were  not  gone  by  that  time,  to  shoot  them 
down  wherever  found.  Someone  introduced  a  resolution 
that  the  rebels  be  notified  to  leave  with  their  families  inside 
of  ten  days  or  they  would  force  them  to  leave.  The  reso 
lution  was  seconded,  I  got  the  floor  and  spoke  as  follows: 
"If  that  course  is  pursued,  it  will  ruin  the  county;  peace 
has  been  made  and  Gen.  Grant  has  ordered  the  rebels  to 
return  home  and  become  good  citizens.  Admitting  that 
everything  Mr.  Alsup  has  said  is  true  and  we  were  to  turn 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  187 

around  and  do  the  same  that  they  did,  we  would  be  just  as 
guilty  as  they  were,  and  it  would  be  a  question  of  might 
and  not  of  right;  and  I  want  to  say  here  now,  if  any  man 
injures  a  late  rebel,  except  in  self-defense  or  in  defense  of 
his  family  or  property,  I  will  prosecute  him  to  the  bitter 
end  of  the  law.' '  Mr.  Alsup  called  another  man  to  the 
chair  and  replied  to  what  I  had  said,  saying:  "By  the  liv 
ing,  I  am  surprised  at  Captain  Monks,  a  man  who  has  been 
treated  by  the  rebels  as  he  has,  who  now  gets  up  here  and 
says  he  will  defend  the  rebels ;  bv  the  living,  I  want  Capt. 
Monks  to  understand  right  here,  now,  that  if  any  loyal  man 
kills  a  rebel  and  has  to  leave  the  country,  and  has  no  horse 
to  ride,  I  will  furnish  him  a  good  horse  to  ride  off  on;  and 
hv  the  living,  let  him  prosecute  me ;  he  will  have  a  sweet 
time  of  it. ' '  The  next  man  that  took  the  floor  was  a  Mr. 
Hall,  who  resided  about  eight  miles  south  of  West  Plains. 
He  said:  ''I  am  just  like  Uncle  Ben;  if  any  loyal  man 
kills  a  rebel  and  has  to  leave  the  country,  I  will  furnish 
him  a  good  horse  to  ride  off  on,  arid  let  Captain  Monks 
prosecute  me  if  he  wants  to;  I  don't  think  it  would  be 
healthy  for  him  to  prosecute  me  for  killing  a  rebel  or  help 
ing  a  man  who  did  kill  one."  The  resolution  was  put  to  a 
vote  and  lost  by  a  good  majority. 

Later  in  the  spring,  there  was  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Finley  living  seven  or  eight  miles  south  of  West  Plains ; 
the  family  was  composed  of  husband  and  wife,  both  of  them 
about  sixty -five  years  of  age,  a  daughter  of  twenty -two 
years  and  a  son  of  about  eleven.  They  had  been  rebels, 
but  were  very  quiet  and  peaceable  citizens;  they  were  re 
siding  on  government  land,  had  good  improvements  and  a 
good  orchard.  There  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Freder 
ick  Baker  who  had  homesteaded  the  land  Mr.  Finley  was 
living  on.  Baker  notified  Finley  to  leave  in  ten  days;  ft 
not  out  in  that  time,  they  would  te  killed.  '  Mr.  Finley 


188  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

wanted  pay  for  his  improvements  before  giving  possession. 
At  the  expiration  of  ten  days,  very  early  in  the  morning 
Mrs.  Finley  went  into  the  lot  to  milk  the  cows;  Baker 
slipped  up  to  the  lot  and  with  a  Colt's  revolver  shot  the  old 
lady  dead.  The  daughter  saw  her  mother  fall,  ran  to  her, 
and  he  shot  her;  she  fell  by  the  side  of  her  mother.  The 
old  man  ran  to  the  door,  reached  up  to  get  his  gun  out  of 
the  rack,  when  Baker  placed  his  pistol  against  his  body  and 
shot  him  dead.  The  pistol  was  so  close  to  Finley  when 
discharged  that  the  powder  set  his  clothes  on  fire.  The 
boy  was  the  only  one  of  the  family  left;  he  ran  to  the  near 
est  neighbor  for  help  and  when  they  got  back  to  the  house 
they  found  the  old  man  and  his  wife  dead  and  the  daughter 
shot  through  the  breast,  maimed  for  life.  The  old  man's 
clothes  were  still  on  fire  when  the  neighbors  arrived. 

Hall  made  his  words  good  for  he  furnished  Baker 
with  a  first-class  horse,  saddle  and  bridle,  to  leave  the 
country  on  and  aided  Baker  in  making  his  escape.  As 
soon  as  the  writer  learned  of  the  murder  he  caused  an 
affidavit  to  be  made  and  procured  a  warrant  for  the  arrest 
of  Baker  and  had  it  put  into  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  and 
did  all  in  his  power  to  cause  Baker's  arrest,  but  by  the 
aid  given  him  by  Hall  and  others  he  made  his  escape. 
The  writer  reported  the  murder  to  the  Governor  and  the 
Governor  offered  a  reward  of  three  hundred  dollars  for 
Baker's  body,  dead  or  alive.  Baker  never  was  arrested. 

The  writer  was  appointed  assistant  prosecuting  attorney 
by  Mr.  Perry,  who  was  Circuit  Attorney  at  that  time. 
After  I  qualified  I  caused  an  affidavit  to  be  made 
against  Mr.  Hall  charging  him  with  being  an  accessor}'"  to 
the  murder  before  the  fact  and  caused  his  arrest.  I  was 
at  once  notified  that  if  I  attempted  to  prosecute  Hall  I 
would  meet  the  same  fate  as  the  Finley  family.  Hall 
was  arrested,  and  the  day  set  for  his  preliminary  trial  at 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  189 

the  school -house  east  of  town.  On  the  day  set  for  trial 
there  were  quite  a  number  of  persons  present ;  the  writer 
appeared,  armed  with  a  good  pistol,  laid  it  by  his  side 
during  the  progress  of  the  trial ;  it  was  proven  by  the  state 
that  he,  Hall,  was  guilty  as  charged.  The  justice  held 
him  over  to  wait  the  action  of  the  grandjury  and  ordered 
him  to  enter  into  a  recognizance  of  two  thousand  dollars 
for  his  appearance  at  the  next  term  of  the  Howell  county 
circuit  court,  which  he  readily  filled  and  was  released. 
Soon  after  his  release  he  took  the  fever  and  died.  Baker 
never  was  captured.  It  was  one  among  the  dirtiest  mur 
ders  that  ever  was  committed  in  Howell  county. 

Gen.  McBride,  before  the  war,  resided  in  Texas  coun 
ty,  on  a  farm,  and  was  circuit  judge  of  the  18th  judicial 
circuit,  which  included  Howell  county.  He  enlisted  in  the 
Confederate  army  and  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Con 
federate  troops  at  West  Plains.  The  Union  men  well  re 
member  his  famous  order,  given  in  the  spring  of  1861,  that 
all  Union  men  join  the  Confederate  service,  and  if  they 
didn't  join  the  Confederate  army  he  would  hang  them  as 
high  as  Haman.  After  his  term  of  service  expired,  he 
moved  his  family  to  near  Batesville,  Ark.,  where  he  resided 
up  to  near  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  taken  sick  and 
died  in  the  spring  of  1866.  Some  of  the  friends  of  the 
widow  in  Texas  county  sent  after  her  and  her  family  to 
bring  them  back  to  her  farm.  Reaching  West  Plains  on 
their  return,  they  were  out  of  money  and  provisions.  They 
asked  the  people  to  help  them  and  a  donation  was  taken  up 
for  her  in  West  Plains ;  I  donated  five  dollars  to  help  her 
back  to  her  home  in  Texas  county. 

After  the  loyal  men  had  returned  to  their  homes  and 
the  civil  law  had  been  fully  restored  I  brought  suits  by 
attachment  against  the  following  persons,  to -wit :  William 
Nicks,  N.  Barnett,  for  aiding  the  parties  in  arresting  and 


190  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

taking  me  from  my  home  and  abusing  me  while  a  prison 
er.  I  attached  their  real  estate  which  was  well  improved 
and  valuable;  procured  a  judgement  of  $8,000.00  against 
said  real  estate,  procured  an  execution  and  ordered  the 
sale  of  said  real  estate.  Before  the  time  for  the  sale  Bar- 
nett  and  William  Nicks  came  to  me  and  admitted  that 
Barnett  was  1st  Lieutenant  and  Nicks  2nd  Lieutenant  of 
Capt.  Forshee's  Confederate  company,  while  I  was  held 
prisoner  by  said  company  and  that  I  was  shamefully  and 
cruelly  treated  while  a  prisoner,  but  they  were  sorry  for 
what  they  had  done  and  hoped  I  would  forgive  them. 
Nicks  further  said  to  me,  that  he  had  saved  my  life;  that 
while  I  was  a  prisoner,  he  overheard  some  of  the  Confed 
erate  soldiers  agree  that  on  the  next  night  while  I  was 
asleep  they  would  slip  up  and  shoot  me  in  the  head, 
and  he  got  his  blankets  and  came  and  slept  with  me. 
I  knew  that  Nicks  brought  his  blanket  and  slept  with  me 
one  night,  but  did  not  know  why  he  did  it. 

Nicks  and  Barnett  further  said,  "Captain  you  have 
us  completely  at  your  mercy ;  we  believe  you  are  a  good 
man  and  we  were  friends  before  the  war.  You  have  a 
judgement  against  our  homes  and  if  you  sell  them  you 
will  turn  us  and  our  families  out  of  doors  and  leave 
us  destitute  without  any  homes  for  our  wives  and  chil 
dren."  I  said,  "I  know  it  is  hard,  for  my  wife  and 
children  were  driven  from  their  homes  because  they  were 
loyal  to  their  government;  but  children  shouldn't  be  held 
responsible  for  the  acts  of  their  parents  and  I  will  say 
to  you  now  that  I  won't  sell  your  homes,  I  will  giye 
them  to  your  wives  and  children ;  we  are  commanded  in 
the  best  book  of  all  books  to  do  good  for  evil ;  you  men 
can  each  one  pay  me  a  small  sum  for  expenses  and  I  will 
satisfy  judgement."  Barnett  paid  me  $150.  Nicks  made 
a  deed  to  some  tax  lands  and  I  entered  satisfaction  on  the 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  191 

judgements.  They  both  said  to  me  that  they  ever  would 
be  grateful  for  what  I  had  done  for  them. 

The  country  began  to  settle  up  and  the  people,  irre 
spective  of  past  associations,  formed  new  ones,  especially 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  those  who  wore  the  blue  and 
the  gray,  and  seemed  to  forget  that  they  had  ever 
been  enemies.  As  time  sped  on  these  attachments  ripened 
into  love.  I  had  but  two  daughters  living.  Nancy  E. 
Monks,  the  oldest,  married  V.  P.  Renfrow,  the  son  of  a 
Confederate;  the}^  have  two  children,  a  son,  Charles,  and 
a  daughter,  Mattie  M.,  now  grown.  Mary  M.  Monks,  who 
married  H.  D.  Green,  whose  father,  a  Confederate  colonel, 
died  in  the  service.  They  have  five  children  living  and 
one  dead,  one  girl  and  four  boys.  Their  children  are  Mat- 
tie  E.,  now  Mattie  E.  Bugg;  Will  H.  D.,  Frank,  Russell 
and  Dick.  Adeline  Turner,  whom  I  had  raised,  married 
Jacob  Schoffter,  a  Union  soldier,  and  has  ten  children,  four 
boys  and  six  girls.  Abraham  Roach,  a  boy  who  had  made 
his  home  with  me  since  infancy,  married  Mattie  Hunt,  a 
daughter  of  Jesse  Hunt,  a  Union  soldier,  has  three  children 
living,  two  girls  and  one  boy,  Maggie,  Frank  and  Bernice. 
I  don't  believe  that  there  is  any  person  that  loves  their 
children  better  than  I  do,  and  I  don't  see  any  difference 
between  my  grandchildren  and  my  own  children.  I  love 
my  sons-in-law  as  well  as  my  own  children;  I  love  the 
girl  and  boy  that  I  raised,  and  their  families  feel  as  near  to 
me  as  my  own.  They  are  flesh  of  our  flesh  and  bone  of 
our  bone,  and  our  highest  duty  to  God  and  them  is  to  teach 
them  patriotism  and  loyalty  to  their  government  and  that 
their  first  duty  is  to  God  and  their  second  duty  to  their 
tountry. 

God  forbid  that  we  ever  have  any  more  civil  war. 
War  is  the  enemy  of  good  society,  degrades  the  morals  of 
the  people,  causes  rapine  and  murder,  destroys  thousands 


FRANK  GREEN  AND  CHARLES  RENFROW. 


AND    NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  193 

of  lives,  brings  misery  and  trouble  upon  the  whole  people, 
creates  a  government  debt  that  our  children  will  not  see 
paid,  makes  friends  enemies.  God  forbid  that  any  more 
sectional  strife  ever  may  grow  up  among  the  people ;  may 
there  be  no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no  West,  but  let  it 
be  a  government  of  the  whole  people,  for  the  people  and 
by  the  people.  May  the  time  speedily  come  when  the  civ- 
ilived  nations  of  the  earth  will  know  war  no  more ;  when 
the  civilized  nations  meet  in  an  international  congress,  pass 
an  international  law  that  all  differences  between  nations 
shall  be  settled  by  arbitration.  May  this  nation  in  truth 
and  in  deed  become  a  Christian  nation  and  every  man  speak 
the  truth  to  his  neighbor  and  adopt  the  Golden  Rule,  "Do 
unto  others  as  you  would  have  them  do  unto  you." 

I  take  pleasure  in  giving  the  names  of  some  of  the 
loyal  men  who  resided  in  Howell  county  in  1861,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Civil  war,  who  stood  for  the  Union 
in  the  dark  hour  when  patriotism  and  loyalty  to  country 
were  tested:  John  McDaniel,  sr.,  John  McDaniel,  jr., 
Jonathan  Youngblood,  George  Youngblood,  David  Nich- 
olass,  Thomas  Wallace,  Martin  Keel,  Thomas  Nicholass, 
Newton  Bond,  William  Hardcastle,  Siras  Newberry, 
William  Newberry,  David  Henson,  John  Black,  sr., 
Daniel  Black,  Peter  lemons,  John  Latnons,  Solomon 
Lamons,  Thomas  Lamons,  Thomas  Brisco,  Morton  Lang- 
ston,  Stephen  Woodward,  Seth  P.  Woodward,  Dr.  D.  D. 
Emmons,  Alfred  Mustion,  W.  D.  Mustion,  John  Mustion, 
Wesley  Cordell,  Hugh  Cordell,  William  Maroney,  Henry 
Maroney,  Collins  Coffey,  John  Coffey,  William  Coffey, 
John  Chapin,  Silas  Chapin,  Benjamin  Alsup,  Andrew 
Smith,  Andrew  V.  Tabor,  Josiah  Carrico,  Josephus  Carrico, 
John  Dent,  Esau  Fox,  Thomas  O.  Brown,  Jacob  Shoffler, 
Thomas  Rice,  sr.,  Thomas  Rice,  jr.,  John  W.  Rice, 
Nathaniel  Briggs,  Captain  I/yle,  -  -  Rhodes,  Jesse 


194  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

Hunt,  Joseph  Spears,  James  West,  Jesse  West,  Dent 
West,  Thomas  Kelley. 

I  will  give  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  men  of  Douglas 
county  who  remained  loyal  to  their  country  in  1861:  Jo 
seph  Wheat,  John  Wheat,  Ervin  King,  John  Coats,  Locke 
Alsup,  William  Alsup,  Thomas  Alsup,  Jack  Alsup,  Shelt 
Alsup,  Aaron  Collins,  William  Collins,  Toodie  Collins, 
Doc  Huffman,  Jariah  Huffman,  Madison  Huffman,  Wil 
liam  Huffman. 

I  will  give  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  men  who  resided 
in  Ozark  county,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  who  re 
mained  loyal  to  their  country  in  the  dark  days  when  it 
tried  men's  souls  to  be  loyal:  James  Kellet,  sr.,  Marion 
Kellett,  Washington  Hawkins.  Jesse  James,  William  James, 

Brown,  R.    R.    Gilliland,    Nace  Turley,    Washington 

Webster,  Dick  Webster,  Macajar  Foster,  Jacob  Foster, 
Henry  Saunders,  Stephen  Saunders,  Allan  Saunders,  Alex 
ander  Huffman,  James  Hall,  Bennett  James. 

I  would  love  to  have  space  to  tell  of  the  patriotism, 
heroism  and  devotion  to  their  country,  besides  their  good 
citizenship,  of  the  men  of  Howell,  Douglas  and  Ozark 
counties,  but  suffice  it  to  say  that  there  never  was  the  same 
number  of  men,  at  any  time,  who  made  more  sacrifices  for 
the  preservation  of  their  country  than  did  these  men  in  its 
darkest  hour.  These  patriots  are  growing  old  and  will 
soon  be  gone  and  their  lips  closed  in  death,  and  there  will 
not  be  one  left  to  tell  of  their  sacrifices  and  the  services 
they  rendered  to  their  country  in  its  extreme  need.  History 
only  will  tell  of  the  hardships,  privations  and  service  that 
they  rendered  to  the  government.  Will  there  be  no  his 
tory  left  to  tell  of  the  heroism  and  devotion  to  their  coun 
try  in  its  darkest  hour!  The  answer  will  come  from  ten 
thousand  tongues  that  their  history  shall  be  written  and  go 
down  to  our  children's  children,  that  they  may  learn  of  the 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  195 

heroism,  privation  and  sacrifice  that  was  made  by  those 
brave  men  and  women,  that  their  country  might  live  and 
not  a  star  be  dropped  from  its  banner.  While  history  is 
being  written  and  monuments  being  erected  to  the  Confed 
erate  soldiers  for  heroism,  shall  we  be  so  ungrateful  to  the 
loyal  men  and  women,  after  they  are  dead  and  gone,  and 
not  tell  the  rising  generation  of  the  heroism  and  sacrifice 
the}7  have  made,  that  their  country  might  live?  The  an 
swer  will  come  from  every  loyal  heart:  No;  a  thous 
and  times  no;  it  shall  be  written  and  perpetuated  for  gen 
erations  not  yet  born. 


196  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 


Has  Known  Col.  Monks  Thirty  Years. 

I  have  known  William  Monks  for  thirty  years  or  more. 
I  have  been  in  cour!;  with  him  and  a  more  kind  and  oblig 
ing  man  I  never  knew  or  had  dealings  with.  He  is  very 
considerate  in  regard  to  the  feelings  of  others,  always  wil 
ling  to  help  those  who  need  help.  In  later  life  he  joined 
the  church  and  preached;  since  he  began  the  Christian  life, 
I  have  never  heard  of  any  conduct  that  was  not  in  conform 
ity  to  his  profession  of  Christianity.  Had  he  had  the 
school  advantages  that  others  have  had,  he  would  have 
been  a  power  in  the  community  where  he  lived. 

The  writer  of  this  was  born  in  Lancaster  county,  Penn 
sylvania,  April  first,  1824.  His  father  immigrated  west 
and  landed  in  Pittsburg  in  1837.  Then  the  writer  of  this 
migrated  southwest  and  finally  landed  in  Tennessee.  At 
Sprii  gfield  he  met  Catherine  Kbbeit,  cr  Abbott,  as  they 
now  call  it,  and  married  her  March  20,  1856.  She  was 
born  in  Reeseville,  Kentucky,  and  is  still  living,  aged  76 
years  last  January.  J.  B.  WINGER, 

West  Plains,  Mo. 


MR.  AND  MRS.  J.   B.  WlNGLR. 


198  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 


Dr.  Dixon's  Long  Acquaintance. 

I  will  state  that  I  came  to  Howell  county  in  the  year 
1866  and  settled  on  Hutton  Valley  near  where  the  town  of 
Willow  Springs  now  is.  The  present  townsite  was  then  a 
small  field  without  a  fence  and  one  small  log  cabin.  I  fol 
lowed  the  practice  of  medicine  up  to  the  present  date.  I 
was  83  years  old  the  20th  of  August,  1906,  and  the  picture  I 
send  you  was  taken  when  I  was  81  years  old.  I  was 
born  in  McMinn  connty,  East  Tennessee,  and  remained 
there  until  I  was  eleven  years  old  when  I  left  there  and 
have  gone  through  many  changes  and  experiences  since 
then.  I  served  in  the  Mexican  war.  I  married  near 
Louisville,  Ky.,  in  1849.  My  wife  is  still  living  and  is 
nearly  eighty -five  years  of  age  and  in  pretty  fair  health. 

I  will  state  that  I  have  known  Col.  Wm.  Monks  and 
wife  for  over  forty  years  and  know  them  to  be  good  and 
true  people.  I  will  further  state  that  there  were  said  to  be 
but  seventy -eight  families  in  the  entire  county  of  Howell , 
and  four  families  in  the  town  of  West  Plains  in  May,  1866 
and  Col.  Win.  Monks  was  one  of  the  four.  Now  I  believe 
there  is  a  population  in  West  Plains  of  over  4,000  and  there 
is  room  for  many  more.  This  is  an  educational  town,  fine 
colleges  and  high  schools  besides  quite  a  number  of  ward 
schools  houses,  almost  entirely  built  of  brick.  vSchools 
last  about  nine  months  in  the  year. 

Respectfully  yours, 

DR.  J.  C.  B.  Dixox, 

West  Plains,  Mo. 


DR.  J,  C.  B.  D1XON. 


200  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 


Union  Woman  Leaves  Arkansas  for  Missouri. 

Mrs.  Giddens,  a  widow,  before  the  war  resided  in  Con- 
way  county,  Arkansas.  She  had  two  sons,  Brad  and  John, 
who  were  about  grown  at  the  commencement  of  the  war. 
This  was  a  Union  family  and  these  two  boys,  with  others, 
kept  themselves  hid  until  the  Confederates  issued  a  gener 
al  order  to  hunt  down  all  Union  men  and  either  force  them 
to  join  the  Confederate  army  or  hang  them.  The  boys  at 
once  saw  that  they  would  be  arrested  and  forced  into  the 
Confederate  service.  They  held  a  consultation  with  their 
mother  and  decided  to  try  to  reach  the  Federal  lines  near 
Rolla. 

Their  mother  took  a  couple  of  wagons  with  a  large 
yoke  of  oxen  to  each  wagon,  and  loaded  them  with  her 
household  goods,  wearing  apparel  and  provisions  to  last 
them  through.  In  the  spring  of  1864  they  started  for 
Rolla.  The  boys  traveled  at  night  until  they  reached  Mis 
souri,  and  on  reaching  Taney  county  they  met  some  Fed 
eral  troops  and  made  their  \vay  to  Rolla,  where  they  enlisted 
and  joined  the  16th  U.  S.  Cavalry  Volunteers,  and  were 
attached  to  company  K,  commanded  by  Capt.  Monks,  and 
served  until  peace  was  made  and  they  were  honorably  dis 
charged  at  Springfield.  Both  of  them  are  still  living  and 
are  active  ministers  of  the  church  of  Christ. 

Their  mother  aimed  to  reach  Rolla  by  way  of  West 
Plains,  and  on  reaching  Howell  county,  near  what  is 
known  as  the  Newt  Bond  farm,  the  bushwhackers  stopped 
her  wagons  and  robbed  her,  and  ordered  her  to  exchange 
her  large  cattle  for  smaller  ones  and  her  large  wagon  for  a 


202  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

small,  light  wagon,  so  that  the  small  cattle  could  pull  it. 
Finally,  after  being  stopped  several  times  by  the  Confeder 
ate  authorities,  she  reached  Rolla  and  found  that  her  sons 
had  enlisted  in  the  Federal  army.  She  saw  the  stars  and 
stripes  unfurled  and  it  appeared  like  a  complete  change  of 
country.  Here  she  located  and  remained  until  her  sons 
were  discharged  from  the  United  States  service. 

SAMUEL  B.  GIDDENS. 

Summerville,  Mo. 

All  Union  families  were  forced  to  leave  Texas  county. 
The  illustration  contains  the  pictures  of  S.  B.  Giddens  and 
wife,  who  were  driven  out;  also  Mrs.  Mary  Dewett,  now 
over  seventy  years  of  age,  who  was  forced  to  leave  all  she 
had  and  flee  for  her  life;  Mrs.  Stillen  Stellman,  whose 
father  went  to  Rolla  and  got  the  Federal  soldiers  to  guard 
him  while  he  removed  his  family. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  203 


Union  Men  Killed  in  Izard  County,  Ark. 

Moody,  Mo.,  September  26,  1906. 

Prior  to  and  when  the  war  of  the  rebellion  broke  out 
the  writer  of  this  article  was  a  citizen  of  Izard  county, 
Arkansas;  the  few  loyal  people  that  lived  in  North  Arkan 
sas,  had  a  hope  that  war  would  be  averted  and  when  Ft. 
Sumpter  was  fired  upon  they  realized  the  awful  condition 
and  consequences  of  war  at  their  very  doors ;  those  who 
favored  a  dissolution  of  the  states  had  given  notice  in  no 
uncertain  way.  And  when  the  news  was  flashed  over  the 
country  that  there  had  been  a  clash  of  arms,  the  persecution 
of  the  loyal  people  began  in  the  South  and  Central  states 
by  those  that  favored  secession.  They  organized  them 
selves  into  companies  and  went  from  house  to  house  noti 
fying  all  those  that  seemed  not  to  take  sides  either  way, 
that  the  time  had  come  when  the  sheep  and  goats  had  to 
be  separated.  The  Union  element  was  arrested  and  many 
were  sent  to  the  penitentiary  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas, 
from  the  counties  of  Izard,  Fulton  and  Independence. 
Those  people  were  robbed  and  plundered  as  long  as  there 
was  anything  worth  taking  and  some  of  them,  after  they 
had  got  all  the  Union  people  had,  commenced  arresting 
and  hanging  the  Union  men.  They  arrested  a  young  man 
and  placed  a  halter  around  his  neck  to  hang  him ;  he 
broke  loose  from  them  and  he  was  run  one  mile  before 
he  was  caught;  then  he  was  taken  to  a  stooping  ash  tree 
and  hung.  The  writer  was  creditably  informed  that  a  man 
who  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Baptist  church, 
scratched  the  dirt  from  under  his  toes  in  order  that  he 


204  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

might  hang  clear  of  the  ground.     I  have    seen  the    tree  he 
was  hanged  on  many  times. 

Another  brutal  murder  was  perpetrated  upon  the 
person  of  Rube  Hudson,  a  Union  man  who  had  been  run 
from  home  and  returned  home  in  the  winter  of  1865;  from 
an  exposure,  he  took  sick  with  pneumonia;  his  wife  had 
secreted  him  under  the  floor  near  the  chimney  and  fire 
place;  the  news  got  out  that  he  was  at  home,  the  rebels 
raided  his  house;  every  thing  in  the  way  of  beds  and 
what  little  they  had  left  was  turned  upside  down  and 
they  gave  up  the  hunt  and  started  away;  a  spell  of 
coughing  came  on  him,  for  he  was  very  ill  and  he  was 
heard  coughing  by  them  and  they  came  back  and  tore 
up  the  floor  and  found  him;  they  dragged  him  out  and 
took  him  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  house ; 
there  he  was  beaten  and  hung  to  make  him  tell  of 
others  who  might  have  come  with  him ;  finally  he  was 
hung  and  shot  to  death,  where  the  family  could  hear 
him  pleading  for  his  life;  he  made  a  special  appeal  to 
one  of  his  near  neighbors  calling  his  nuns  and  asking 
him  to  intercede  for  him  and  save  him.  The  only  con 
solation  he  got  was  "y°u  are  a  goner,  Rube;  you  are 
a  goner,  Rube,"  he  was  left  hanging  for  the  family  to 
cut  down  and  bury.  He  met  his  death  for  no  other 
cause  than  that  of  being  a  staunch  Union  man. 

Another  bloodcurdling  murder  was  perpetrated  upon 
the  person  of  Minor  White,  for  no  other  cause  than  that  of 
being  loyal  to  his  country.  He  was  honest  and  upright  in 
his  dealings  with  his  fellowmen,  but  he  was  arrested,  taken 
to  the  county  seat  of  Izard  county,  tried  and  was  released. 
Before  he  started  home  a  friend  told  him  not  to  go  the  road 
for  they  would  follow  him  and  kill  him,  he  said:  "I  have 
always  been  free  to  speak  my  sentiments;  I  have  done 
nothing  that  I  have  to  slip  back  home  through  the  woods. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  205 

I  am  going  to  take  the  public  highway,  if  I  am  killed." 
He  was  overtaken  about  a  mile  out  by  the  mob  that  took 
him  there;  he  was  shot  and  otherwise  mutilated  and  left 
hanging  to  a  tree. 

I  could  mention  many  things  that  were  done  to  the 
Union  men  and  women  in  Northern  Arkansas  that  make 
me  shudder  to  think  of,  and  if  I  were  to  undertake  to  relate! 
all  that  came  under  my  owrn  observation,  and  many  inci 
dents  that  took  place  in  the  counties  mentioned  that  were 
related  to  me  by  others  who  are  entitled  to  credit  for  honor 
and  truth.  There  was  not  a  Union  family  left  at  home  in 
the  counties  above  referred  to. 

lam  opposed  to  war  on  general  principles:  first,  it 
never  settles  the  issue;  second,  it  is  always  a  poor  man's 
fight  and  a  rich  man's  fuss;  third,  if  the  poor  soldier  is 
fortunate  enough  to  get  back  alive,  the  debt  is  his  to  pay. 

J.    M.   DIXON. 


AND   NORTHERN   ARKANSAS  207 


THE  KU-KLUX 


The  lawless  bands  that  had  been  roving  through  the 
counties  of  Howell,  Oregon,  Shannon  and  Dent  had  been 
captured,  killed  or  driven  out  of  these  counties  by  the 
officers  of  the  law,  aided  by  the  militia  forces  of  the  state. 
All  classes  of  persons  and  men  of  every  political  faith  were 
secure  in  their  person  and  property.  The  civil  law  was 
enforced  to  the  letter  and  the  people  generally  looked  to 
the  bright  future  of  Missouri. 

In  the  fail  of  1868,  irf  the  month  of  September  during 
a  political  campaign  that  was  being  made  in  Howell 
county,  while  a  political  speaking  was  going  on  at  Black's 
store  in  Benton  township  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 
county,  a  courier  came  with  a  dispatch  stating  that 
Captain  Simpson  Mason,  registering  officer  of  Fulton 
county,  Arkansas,  had  been  shot  and  killed  from  ambush, 
near  the  state  line  adjoining  Howell  county,  by  men 
who  styled  themselves  Ku-klux,  and  had  ordered  all 
Union  men,  and  especially  the  officers  of  the  law,  to 
keep  inside  of  their  doors  and  to  tender  their  resignations 
as  such  officers  or  they  would  fare  the  same  as  Mason 
had.  It  was  stated  that  the  law-abiding  citizens  were 
without  arms  and  that  the  Ku-klux  were  raiding  the 
whole  country ;  the  whole  country  was  being  terrorized 
by  said  men  and  in  God's  name  asked  us  to  come  and 
bring  men  and  arms  to  aid  the  civil  officers  to  enforce  the 
law.  The  writer  advised  the  people  to  be  cool;  that  if 
there  was  an  organization  in  the  state  of  Arkansas  to 


208  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

overturn  the  state  government  and  the  loyal  people  of 
said  state  were  helpless,  since  the  rebels  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Civil  war  had  had  no  regard  for  state  lines  I 
thought  that,  we  would  have  the  same  right  to  go  down  and 
help  our  loyal  brethern  to  enforce  the  civil  law. 

A  committee  of  twelve  men  was  selected  to  say  what 
action  we  would  take;  among  the  committee  were  Benja 
min  Alsup,  Rev.  Adam  Wright,  Rev.  John  Collins,  David 
Nicholass.  Old  men  were  placed  on  the  committee.  The 
committee  retired  to  deliberate  upon  the  matter,  and  in  a 
short  time  returned  and  made  the  following  report: 
"That  we,  the  loyal  people  of  Howell  county,  go  at  once 
with  all  available  men  and  arms."  The  writer  had  in  his 
possession  at  that  time  one  hundred  Springfield  rifles,  with 
one  thousand  rounds  of  cartridges  for  each  gun.  During 
the  night  and  the  next  day  about  seventy -five  men  were 
organized  into  a  temporary  company  and  were  placed  un 
der  the  command  of  Uncle  Benjamin  Alsup.  On  the  night 
following  we  made  a  forced,  march  reaching  the  Widow 
Pickrum's  farm,  situated  on  Bennet's  river,  in  Fulton 
county,  Arkansas,  the  next  morning.  We  found  Captain 
Richardson,  with  one  company  of  state  guards,  fortified  in 
a  barn.  On  our  arrival  we  offered  our  services  to  Captain 
Richardson,  which  were  readily  accepted.  They  were  look 
ing  for  an  attack  to  be  made  by  the  Ku-klux  at  any  moment, 
as  Colonel  Tracy  was  said  to  be  at  Jackson  Port  with  three 
hundred  and  fifty  well  armed  Ku-klux. 

While  waiting  for  further  orders  from  Governor  Clay 
ton  a  vigorous  search  was  commenced  for  the  murderers  of 
Captain  Mason.  We  soon  learned  that  on  the  day  pre 
vious  to  the  murder  of  Mason  he  was  registering  the  voters 
on  the  Big  North  Fork,  at  what  was  known  as  the  Cal- 
houn  mill,  and  on  the  next  day  he  was  to  meet  the  peo 
ple  at  the  Harbor  Precinct  for  registration.  And  on  the 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  209 

previous  night  the  Kuklux,  according  to  a  general  move 
that  was  to  be  made  throughout  the  state,  met  at  Col 
onel  Tracy's,  at  the  Widow  Pickrum  farm.  Among  them 
were  Colonel  Tracy,  Dow  Bryant,  U.  R.  Bush,  and 
about  forty  others;  they  selected  about  twenty  men  to  do 
the  shooting  and  divided  them  into  three  bunches  and 
erected  three  blinds,  as  they  did  not  know  which  road 
Captain  Mason  might  travel.  They  placed  about  seven 
well  armed  mnn  in  each  blind,  who  had  been  sworn  by 
the  Kuklux  and  after  they  had  been  placed  in  their 
blinds  one  of  the  men  who  did  the  shooting  ^aid,  "L-t  him 
come;  I  am  sure  to  get  him  for  I  can  hit  an  old  gobbler's 
neck  that  distance."  The  blind  was  erected  where  the 
road  made  a  short  curve  with  very  thick  brush  on  the  left 
side  of  the  road.  When  Captain  Mason  and  posse  had  ap 
proached  within  about  thirty  yards  of  the  blind  they  fired 
a  volley,  five  of  the  shots  taking  effect  in  Mason's  body. 
Captain  Mason  fell  from  his  horse  and  expired  in  a  few 
moments.  The  assassins  fled  through  a  thick  bottom 
growth.  Bryant,  Bush,  and  two  or  three  others  were  ar 
rested,  charged  with  being  a  part  of  the  men  who  did 
the  shooting.  They  were  arrested  by  the  state  guards,  as 
the  civil  officers  were  afraid  to  issue  a  single  warrant  on 
account  of  the  threats  of  the  Kuklux.  On  an  investigation 
it  was  proven  that  Tracy,  Bryant,  Bush  and  about  forty 
others  were  present  the  night  before  Mason's  murder. 
And  that  Bush  was  the  man  who  remarked  after  he  had 
gone  into  the  blind  "Let  him  come.  I  can  get  him.  I 
can  hit  an  old  gobbler's  neck  that  far." 

In  the  meantime,  the  governor  had  gotten  a  dispatch 
through  to  Capt.  Richardson  that  the  Kuklux  in  large  num 
bers  were  organizing  and  threatening  to  attack  the  state 
officers;  that  he  and  the  state  officers  were  barricaded  in 
the  state  house  and  that  he  was  organizing  the  state  guards 


210  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

as  fast  as  possible.  Capt.  Richardson  was  ordered  to  re 
cruit  every  available  man  and  protect  the  civil  officers  as 
far  as  possible ;  that  he  had  made  arrangements  to  send 
arms  and  ammunition  up  White  river  on  a  boat.  I  sug 
gested  to  Benjamin  Alsup  and  others  who  had  come  down 
from  Missouri  that  the  only  way  we  could  make  our  acts 
legal  would  be  to  join  the  state  guards  and  be  mustered 
into  the  state  service,  to  which  proposition  1113^  old  friend 
Alsup  objected  and  remarked:  "That's  the  way  with 
Monks;  he  is  afraid  he  will  hurt  some  rebel,  contrary  to 
law.  Now,  by  the  living,  I  came  down  here  to  hang  some 
of  these  old  rebels  and  murderers  to  the  first  limb  we  come 
to,  and  if  we  have  to  join  the  state  guards  and  wait  on  the 
civil  and  military  law  to  punish  them,  they  never  will  be 
punished.  I  am  going  back  to  Missouri."  About  two- 
thirds  of  the  men  \vlio  came  down  enlisted  in  the  state  ser 
vice;  Alsnp  and  others  returned  to  Missouri. 

As  soon  as  Governor  Clayton  learned  that  the  writer 
had  come  into  the  state  with  men  and  arms,  he  sent  another 
dispatch  stating  that  he  and  all  the  law-abiding  people  of 
the  state  would  ever  be  grateful  to  him  for  furnishing  men 
and  arms  at  a  time  when  they  were  entirely  helpless  and  at 
the  mercy  of  a  secret  and  bloodthirsty  enemy,  bent  on  over 
throwing  the  state  government ;  that  if  I  would  remain  in 
the  state  with  my  men  and  arms  he  would  make  me  lieuten 
ant-colonel  of  the  seventh  regiment  of  state  guards. 

We  were  watching  the  movements  of  the  Kuklux,  and 
in  about  eight  or  ten  days  after  the  murder  of  Capt.  Mason, 
late  one  evening,  the  deputy  sheriff  of  the  county  came  to 
headquarters  and  informed  Capt.  Richardson  that  there 
were  three  hundred  and  fifty  Kuklux,  well  armed,  in  camp 
at  Salem,  the  county  seat  of  Fulton  county,  and  intended 
to  attack  Capt.  Richardson  before  day,  the  next  morning; 
they  had  ordered  him,  the  deputy  sheriff,  under  penalty  of 


AND  NORTHERN  ARKANSAS  211 

death,  to  bring  Bush  and  turn  him  over  to  them.  A  brief 
consultation  was  held  by  the  officers,  and  being  satisfied 
that  they  were  not  able  to  meet  the  force  of  Kuklux  then 
marching  upon  them,  it  was  agreed  that  the  writer  should 
take  the  men  from  Missouri  and  recruit  men  for  the  service 
and  get  all  the  arms  and  ammunition  that  were  left  at  home 
and  return  with  all  possible  speed.  In  the  meantime,  they 
would  retreat  to  some  secluded  place  and  watch  the  move 
ments  of  the  Kuklux.  They  turned  Bush  over  to  the  dep 
uty  sheriff  and  he  started  in  the  direction  of  Salem,  and 
Capt.  Richardson  broke  camp  and  retreated.  The  deputy 
sheriff  had  not  traveled  more  than  two  miles  when  a  posse 
of  armed  men  met  him  and  demanded  Bush,  and  he,  sup 
posing  that  they  were  a  part  of  the  Kuklux  command, 
turned  him  over.  They  took  him  about  two  hunred  yards 
and  shot  him  to  death.  The  next  morning,  before  daylight, 
Col.  Tracy  charged  upon  the  late  camp  of  Capt.  Richard 
son,  but  found  it  had  been  vacated. 

The  Kuklux  began  a  regular,  organized  system  of  raid 
ing  the  Union  men's  houses,  especially  the  officers  of  the 
civil  law,  posting  written  notices,  ordering  their  resigna 
tions  ot  once,  and  if  they  attempted  the  arrest  of  any  Ku 
klux,  death  would  be  the  penalty.  They  posted  a  picture 
of  a  coffin  with  the  notice,  at  the  same  time  ordering  all  in 
fluential  Union  men  to  leave  the  state  at  once,  under  the 
penalty  of  death.  In  about  two  weeks  the  governor  or 
dered  a  part  of  the  seventh  regiment  of  state  guards  to 
Fulton  county,  to  be  stationed  on  Bennett's  river,  and  to 
complete  the  organization  of  the  regiment  with  all  possible 
speed;  Col.  Bail  was  placed  in  command. 

After  my  return  home,  I  organized  three  companies, 
commanded  by  Capt.  F.  M.  Monks,  Capt.  Nicolas  and 
Capt.  Rice.  About  three  days  after  the  regiment  reached 
Fulton  county,  the  writer  rejoined  his  regiment  with  three 


212  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

companies,  one  hundred  Springfield  rifles  and  one  thous 
and  rounds  of  cartridges  for  each  gun,  and  soon  completed 
the  organization  of  the  regiment;  he  was  commissioned 
lieutenant -colonel  of  the  regiment. 

The  governor  had  sent  arms  and  ammunition  up  White 
river,  but  the  Kuklux  captured  and  sunk  the  boat  with  all 
the  arms  and  ammunition.  The  governor  said  that  my  ar 
rival  saved  the  north  part  of  the  state  from  the  control 
of  the  Kuklux,  as  he  would  not  have  been  able  to  procure 
arms  for  months.  The  regiment  began  an  active  cam 
paign  at  once,  by  which  they  came  into  possession  of  the 
intentions,  aims,  secrets  and  oaths  of  the  order;  found  that 
the  order  extended  up  into  Missouri,  along  the  state  line. 
It  was  a  complete  military  organization.  The  intention 
was  to  overturn  the  state  government  by  intimidating  the 
civil  officers  of  the  state,  and  with  this  purpose  in  view 
they  procured  a  human  skull  and  two  thigh  bones,  and 
while  the  member  was  looking  on  these  bones  the  follow 
ing  oath  was  administered  by  the  grand  cyclops : 

"We  (or  I,  as  the  case  might  be)  do  solemnly  swear 
before  Almighty  God  and  these  witnesses,  and  looking  up 
on  these  human  bones,  that  I  will  obey  and  carry  into  ef 
fect  every  order  made  by  any  cyclops  or  assistant  cyclops, 
and  if  I  fail  to  strict ly  conform  and  execute  ever}7  order 
made  as  above  required  of  me,  unless  I  am  prevented  from 
some  cause  which  shall  be  no  fault  of  mine,  or  if  I  shall 
give  any  information  to  any  person  or  persons  except  mem 
bers  of  this  order,  that  the  doom  of  all  traitors  shall  be 
meted  out  to  me,  and  that  my  bones  may  become  as  naked 
and  dry  as  the  bones  I  am  looking  upon.  And  I  take  this 
oath  voluntarily,  without  any  mental  reservation  or  evasion 
whatever,  for  the  causes  set  out  in  said  order,  so  help  me 
God." 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  213 

After  the  oath  had  been  taken  the  persons  taking  said 
oath  were  ready  for  duty.  The  intentions  and  aims  of 
this  organization  were  to  intimidate  the  civil  officers  and, 
if  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  their  aims,  to  kill 
and  murder  all  officers  of  the  state  by  assassination  or  drive 
them  from  the  state.  All  civil  officers  of  the  state  were 
at  once  notified  to  tender  their  resignations  and  to  cease  to 
discharge  their  official  duties  as  peace  officers,  and  if  they 
failed  to  comply  with  said  order,  death  would  be  the  pen 
alty  The  governor  and  all  the  state  officers  received  the 
same  order;  all  Union  men  that  were  influential  in  the 
state  were  ordered  to  keep  themselves  in  doors  or  be  driv 
en  from  the  state,  or  be  murdered  by  assassination.  The 
following  words,  with  pictures  of  coffins,  were  attached  to 
said  notices : 

"If  you  fail  to  comply  with  this  notice,  this  coffin  will 
be  your  final  resting  place.'' 

The  Kuklux  organization,  having  but  one  object  and 
aim,  to  turn  the  state  government  over  to  the  control  of 
the  late  rebels  or  Democratic  party  of  the  state,  was  a 
complete  secret  military  organization  with  the  most  des 
perate  means  to  wit:  Murder,  by  assassination  whenever 
ordered  by  a  cyclops  or  assistant  Cyclops. 

A  grand  cyclops  took  the  place  of  a  colonel.  An  as 
sistant  cyclops  lieutenant -colonel.  An  order  from  one 
of  these  officers  to  shoot  any  man  was  final,  from  which 
there  was  no  appeal ;  and  men  were  selected  to  exe 
cute  said  order  by  the  most  des^perate  oath  known  to  man 
or  history.  Th?s  kind  of  warfare,  being  inaugurated 
throughout  the  whole  state,  with  a  thorough  understand 
ing  that  their  organization  would  revolt  against  the  civil 
authorities  of  the  state  government,  and  had  the  day  set 
throughout  the  whole  state. 


214  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

On  the  same  day  that  Captain  Simson  Mason  was  as 
sassinated  in  Fulton  county,  Kuklux  attempted  to  assassi 
nate  Governor  Clayton  in  Little  Rock.  They  were  s^en 
in  considerable  numbers  near  the  state  capitol,  after  night, 
all  wearing  masks.  They  notified  the  governor,  that  they 
intended  to  capture  and  take  possession  of  the  state  capi 
tol  by  a  force,  if  he  did  not  resign  his  office  as  governor; 
the  danger  became  so  great  that  he  barricaded  the  state 
house,  as  he  had  but  few  state  troops.  The  whole 
state  was  invaded  by  the  Kuklux  at  the  same  time  and 
they  commenced  raiding  the  state  in  bands  of  from 
twenty -five  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  men;  all  wore 
masks  and  large  rubber  pouches  concealed  by  a  cover. 
They  visited  the  Union  men  and  colored  men's 
houses  and  raided  the  whole  country  generally,  proclaim 
ing  that  they  were  dead  rebels  who  had  been  shot  on 
the  different  battlefields  during  the  civil  war  and  that 
they  had  come  back  to  rid  the  state  of  black  republi 
cans  and  carpet-baggers. 

They  would  claim  that  they  were  very  thirsty,  that 
they  never  had  a  drink  of  water  since  they  had 
been  killed  at  the  battles  of  Gettysburg,  Corinth,  Vicks- 
burg,  and  other  big  battles.  They  would  call  on  the 
colored  people  to  bring  them  a  bucketful  and  one  of 
their  number  would  pour  the  whole  bucketful  into  his 
pouch  and  called  for  more  water,  making  the  colored 
people  believe  that  they  drank  the  water;  then  they 
would  give  the  colored  people  orders  not  to  be  caught 
off  their  plantations,  and  if  so  caught,  the  penalty  of 
death  would  be  inflicted ;  many  of  the  influential  colored 
people  were  shot  down.  The  author  saw  a  number  of 
fresh  graves  of  the  colored  people  that  had  been  shot 
by  the  Kuklux ;  saw  holes  in  windows  in  houses  in 
towns  and  villages  that  had  been  shot  through  after  night, 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  215 

while  men  were  reading,  who  had  been  notified  to  re 
sign  their  offices  or  stop  using  their  influence  in  favor 
of  the  enforcement  of  the  civil  law7. 

The  author  remembers  passing  some  colored  people 
on  the  side  of  the  road ;  one  old  colored  woman  cried  out 
at  the  top  of  her  voice  "Lawd,  massa,  massa  are  you 
men  hunting  dem  dar  Kuklux?  Wi,  da  told  us  dat  bul 
lets  wouldn't  kill  them.  I  fought  we  could  fight  live 
men  but  when  it  come  to  fightin  dead  men,  don't  know 
what  to  tink  about  it.  Wi  dey  come  to  our  house,  rode 
up  to  de  fence  called  for  water;  said  they  hadn't  any 
water  since  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  Wi,  one  man  drank  a 
bucketful,  and  den  call  for  mo.  I  thought  to  my  soul 
that  they  would  never  get  enuf  water.'*  The  author  re 
plied,  "Auntie,  when  these  rebels  are  killed,  they  never 
get  back  here ;  the  bad  man  keeps  them  to  build  fires  for 
him.  These  Kuklux  are  the  men  that  ran  away  from  the 
battle  of  Shiloh  and  have  just  crawled  out  of  their  dens. 
That's  why  they  are  masked.1'  The  old  woman  said, 
"Dat  what  I  thought  bout  it."  Wrhile  the  Kuklux 
were  raiding  the  country  the}'  visited  an  old  darkie's  house 
and  gave  him  three  day's  notice  to  leave  the  country; 
and  if  he  failed  to  leave  they  would  visit  him  again  and 
death  would  be  his  penalty.  In  about  three  or  four  day, 
twenty -five  or  thirty  Kuklux  rode  up  to  his  cabin  in  the 
night  and  called  for  him;  he  was  armed  with  an  old  U.  S. 
musket ;  he  fired  into  the  crowd  and  killed  one  of  the  band 
and  then  ran  and  made  his  escape. 

Part  of  the  regiment  received  orders  to  report  to  Gen 
eral  Uphan,  who  was  stationed  at  Cottonplant,  on  White 
river,  leaving  Captain  Richardson  in  charge  of  the  for 
ces  in  Fulton  county  and  Captain  Toney  in  charge  of  the 
troops  in  Izard  and  Sharp  counties.  The  regiment  broke 
camp  and  marched  by  way  of  Jacksonport  and  on  their 


216  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

arrival  went  into  camp  on  the  Wadel  farm,  two  miles  be 
low  Jacksoiiport.  The  Kuklux  had  declared  that  we  should 
not  march  through  Jacksonport.  A  brother-in-law  of  Mr. 
Wadel  from  North  Missouri  invited  the  writer  to  supper; 
the  writer  believing  that  a  trap  had  been  fixed  to  decoy 
him  outside  of  the  lines  took  one  lieutenant  and  a  posse 
of  men  and  went  to  his  house;  on  our  arrival,  we  found  a 
bountiful  supper ;  had  every  thing  that  a  hungry  man 
could  wish ;  had  eggnog  served  in  silver  cups  with  silver 
spoons.  The  residence  was  about  forty -two  by  twenty 
feet;  two  large  rooms  with  a  ten-foot  hall  between, 
with  kitchen  on  west  side,  fine  portico,  with  about  ten 
or  twelve  negro  cabins,  about  sixty  to  one  hundred 
feet  from  the  dwelling-house.  Just  before  supper  I 
noticed  eight  or  ten  men  come  in  on  foot  dressed  in  gray 
clothing.  I  at  once  ordered  my  men  to  be  ready  at  any 
moment  and  to  not  let  them  get  the  drop  on  them.  Just 
about  the  time  that  most  of  my  men  were  through  eating 
supper,  I  noticed  that  some  of  the  men  that  came  in 
to  the  supper  table  had  arms  on  their  persons  and  noticed 
that  the  negroes  were  excited.  I  stepped  out  at  a  back 
door  and  just  as  I  entered  the  hall  door  I  saw  the  land 
lord  approaching  the  room  where  my  men  were  srated  at 
the  table  with  a  navy  pistol  cocked  in  his  right  hand, 
holding  it  behind  his  back.  Just  as  he  attempted  to 
open  the  door  where  my  men  were  seated  at  the  supper 
table,  I  sprang  forward  and  grabbed  his  pistol  and 
wrenched  it  out  of  his  hand,  and  said  to  him.  "Don't 
you  dare  to  attempt  to  shoot  one  of  my  irien."  He  turned 
around  facing  me  and  and  said  "I  went  all  through  the 
Civil  war  and  you  are  the  first  men  that  ever  disarmed 
me."  In  a  moment  my  men  had  pistols  in  hand  ready  for 
action,  and  I  noticed  some  of  the  men  that  came  dresseed 
in  gray  had  pistols  in  their  pockets.  I  remarked  to  them; 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  217 

"I  came  here  on  an  invitation;  I  am  here  as  a  guest, I  wish 
to  treat  all  persons  as  gentlemen,  especially  the  landlord 
and  his  family ;  but  this  hostile  •  move  made  upon  the 
part  of  the  landlord  and  the  presence  of  these  armed  men 
shows  me  that  there  is  something  wrong.  I  ordered, 
my  men  to  fall  in  line  and  return  to  the  camp.  His  wife 
appeared  to  be  a  perfect  lad}^  and  her  husband  appeared 
to  be  under  the  influence  of  whiskey.  He  agreed  that  if 
I  would  release  him,  he  would  go  into  his  room  and  stay 
there  until  my  men  had  all  returned  to  the  camp. 
After  he  had  gone  into  his  room,  I  gave  his  revolver  to 
his  wife  on  her  promising  not  to  give  it  to  him  until  the 
next  morning. 

I  learned  from  Mr.  Wadel's  brother-in-law  that  he 
came  from  northern  Missouri  at  the  commencement  of  the 
war  and  at  about  the  close  of  the  war  he  married  his  sister; 
that  he  was  a  cyclops  and  came  to  Fulton  county  in  the 
Kuklux  raid,  and  that  the  men  who  came  that  evening  were 
all  Kuklux,  that  if  I  had  gone  gone  alone  to  his  supper,  I 
would  have  been  killed. 

The  next  morning  we  broke  camp  and  resumed  our 
march.  On  the  regiment  arriving  at  Cottonplant,  Col.  Dail 
reported  to  Gen.  Upham  and  we  were  ordered  into  camp. 
As  soon  as  the  citizens  of  the  city  learned  of  my  arrival, 
they  requested  Gen.  Upham  that  I  be  invited  to  deliver  a 
speech  in  the  city  hall ;  that  they  had  heard  and  read  of 
Col.  Monks  and  they  wanted  him  to  deliver  an  address  to 
the  people  at  early  candle-light  on  the  present  condition  of 
the  state.  There  were  about  seven  or  eight  hundred  men 
stationed  at  the  post.  After  supper,  the  adjutant  sent  an 
order  by  an  orderly  to  detail  about  fifty  men  for  a  patrol 
guard  ;  that  the  soldiers  had  broken  into  the  warehouse  and 
were  taking  out  whiskey  and  other  articles.  I  ordered  the 
detail  to  be  made  and  report  at  headquarters  for  further  or- 


218  HISTORY    OK    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

ders.  Our  headquarters  were  not  more  than  forty  yards 
from  the  warehouse.  I  spoke  in  an  audible  voice,  "Now, 
we  claim  that  our  mission  as  soldiers  is  to  protect  persons 
and  property.  I  want  you  to  see  that  your  guns  and  pis 
tols  are  well  loaded,  and  go  direct  to  the  warehouse  first 
and  arrest  all  soldiers  that  you  find  in  or  about  the  ware 
house  and  take  them  to  the  guard -house  and  there  keep 
them  safe  until  further  orders,  and  patrol  the  city  closely. 
Order  all  soldiers  and  officers  who  have  not  passes  to  be 
inside  of  their  quarters  in  thirty  minutes,  and  if  you  find 
any  soldiers  on  the  street  after  thirty  minutes,  arrest  them 
and  take  them  to  the  guard -house;  if  they  resist  you,  shoot 
them;  and  if  you  have  to  shoot,  shoot  to  kill."  About 
that  time  some  man  near  the  warehouse  called  out :  "Who 
in  hell  are  you?  This  whiskey  is  Kuklux  whiskey,  and 
we  will  take  what  we  please."  I  replied,  "if  we  cannot 
enforce  discipline  over  the  soldiers,  we  will  go  back  home 
and  send  others ;  you  will  find  out  who  I  am  if  you  wait 
until  the  patrol  gets  there." 

I  ordered  the  officer  to  sound  the  reveille.  Inside  of 
thirty  minutes  every  soldier  was  inside  of  his  quarters. 
The  citizens  said  that  such  a  thing  had  not  occurred  since 
the  post  had  been  established.  Capt.  Sharp  was  reckless 
when  drinking ;  he  had  mutinied  and  the  men  that  were 
disposed  to  be  wild  had  terrorized  the  people  of  the  city. 
Gen.  Upham  had  failed  to  enforce  discipline  over  Capt. 
Sharp  and  his  company.  Capt.  Sharp  had  ridden  up 
and  down  the  streets  before  the  regiment  had  arrived  and 
proclaimed,  "when  Colonel  Monks  arrives  we  will  clean 
all  the  Kuklux  up."  The  citizens  were  considerably 
frightened  on  my  arrival  in  August,  but  after  they  saw  how 
completely  I  enforced  discipline  everything  became  quiet, 
they  appeared  to  be  perfectly  secure  in  person  and  prop 
erty. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  219 

On  the  next  night,  at  early  candle  light,  the  large 
hall  was  filled.  After  being  introduced  by  Gen.  Upham,  I 
spoke  in  part  as  follows : 

"Gentlemen  and  fellow  citizens  of  Arkansas:  lam 
from  your  sister  state,  Missouri,  and  I  am  very  sorry  to 
find  you  people  in  the  state  of  war.  War  is  not  very 
pleasant ;  it  has  its  effects  upon  society ;  demoralizes  the 
morals  of  the  people,  besides  the  great  sacrifice  of  life  and 
property.  Besides  this,  it  ailenates  those  who  should  be 
brethern  and  makes  them  bitter  enemies.  Your  people  may 
ask  the  question,  what  right  have  you  Missourians  to  come 
down  into  our  state?  My  first  answer  will  be,  Captain 
Simpson  Mason  was  but  recently  assassinated  in  Fulton 
county,  near  the  state  line,  while  in  the  discharge  of  his 
official  duty.  At  the  commencement  of  the  civil  war  he 
was  a  citizen  of  Fulton  county,  Arkansas,  and  I  was  a 
citizen  of  Howell  county,  Missouri.  Both  of  us  were  un 
conditional  Union  men.  Both  of  us  were  driven  from  our 
homes  and  posses  of  men  from  your  state,  regardless  of 
the  state  lines,  scouted  our  county,  murdering  and  driv 
ing  out  Union  men,  women  and  children  and  hung 
and  shot  down  loyal  men.  Captain  Mason  and  I  met  in 
the  early  part  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion  and  soon  become 
fast  friends.  Served  together  during  the  war.  When 
peace  was  made  we  determined  to  go  back  home.  Men 
would  meet  us  and  say  "If  you  men  go  back  among  the 
old  rebels  who  hate  you  so  badly  they  will  kill  you." 
Our  reply  would  be,  "  Damn  a  man  that  is  afraid  to  go 
back  and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  victory."  We  met 
and  pledged  our  sacred  honor  to  each  other  that  if,  after 
our  return  to  our  old  homes,  either  one  of  us  was  killed 
by  the  late  rebels,  the  other  would  do  all  in  his  power  to 
bring  the  guilty  parties  to  justice.  A  better  and  truer 
man  never  lived  than  Captain  Simpson  Mason.  Each  of 


MAKING  A  PLEDGE— Col.  Win.  Monks  and  Capt.  Simpson  Mason. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  221 

us  came  back  with  the  olive  leaf  in  his  mouth.  Now  I 
don't  say  that  all  rebels  are  Kuklux,  but  I  will  say  all 
Kuklux  have  been  late  rebels  and  have  organized 
a  secret  organization,  the  objects  and  aims  of  which  are 
to  overturn  the  civil  government  of  your  state  by  mur 
der  and  intimidations,  through  the  most  vile  and  des 
perate  means  known  to  man,  the  savage  not  excepted. 
Besides  your  organization  extends  into  the  border  coun 
ties  of  Missouri  and  as  the  rebels  thought  right  to  cross 
the  state  line  during  the  Civil  W7ar,  we  think  it  right  to 
cross  it  now  to  help  our  loyal  brethern,  and  these  are  the 
causes  that  brought  us  to  }rour  state.  We  don't  want 
booty.  We  want  to  see  the  civil  law  enforced,  and  we 
ask  your  cooperation, and  promise  you,  that  all  law  abiding 
citizens,  be  they  Union  or  rebel,  shall  be  protected  in  per 
son  and  property  during  our  stay  in  your  state  and  we  in 
tend  to  enforce  the  very  strictest  discpline  among  our 
troops.  I  hope  by  the  cooperation  of  the  people  of  your 
state  this  unholy  war  will  soon  cease."  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  speech  they  gave  three  cheers  for  Missouri  troops. 

On  the  third  day  after  our  arrival  at  Cottonplant, 
Captain  J.  B.  Nicholas'  and  Captain  Sharp's  companies 
were  ordered  to  be  detached  from  the  regiment  and  placed 
under  the  command  of  the  author  and  ordered  to  march  at 
once  and  report  at  Marion,  the  county  seat  of  Crittenden 
county  for  further  orders.  On  our  arrival  at  Marion  we  were 
ordered  to  proceed  directly  to  Osceola,  the  county  seat  of 
Mississippi  county,  Arkansas  and  to  erect  a  military  post  and 
issue  an  order  ordering  all  the  persons  that  were  armed  to 
come  in  and  take  the  oath.  On  our  arrival  at  that  place  to 
report  the  same  to  the  Governor  of  the  state.  I  issued 
the  following  general  order  : 

"To  the  people  ot  the  state  of  Arkansas,  especially 
the  citizens  of  Mississippi  county ;  greeting ;  whereas  a  part 


222  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

of  the  people,  disregarding  their  duties  as  good  law-abid 
ing  citizens,  have  by  and  through  a  secret  organization 
known  as  Kuklux  revolted  against  the  civil  government  of 
the  state  of  Arkansas  and  are  now  armed  and  attempting 
by  murder  and  intimidations  to  overthrow  the  civil  govern 
ment  of  the  state,  now  therefore,  by  the  authority  in  me 
vested  and  as  commander  of  said  post,  do  order  all  persons 
who  may  be  in  armed  hostility  to  the  present  government 
a  id  those  who  may  be  by  act  or  deed  aiding  or  encourag 
ing  those  who  are  in  arms  against  the  legal  constituted 
laws  of  the  state  to  return  to  their  allegiance  and  aid  in 
enforcing  the  civil  law.  And  any  person  who  may  be 
found  from  and  after  this  date  armed  or  aiding  or  abetting 
those  who  are  in  arms  against  the  civil  law  of  the  state 
will  be  promptly  arrested  and  punished  to  the  extent  of  the 
law.  WM.  MONKS,  commanding  the  post." 

When  I  arrived  there  was  not  a  single  civil  officer  in 
this  county.  They  had  either  resigned  or  had  kept  them 
selves  indoors.  I  at  once  commenced  a  vigorous  campaign 
and  soon  learned  that  there  were  two  men  charged  with 
being  cyclops;  one  of  them  resided  about  thirty  miles 
down  the  river  on  an  island;  he  was  charged  with  killing 
eight  or  ten  colored  people.  I  made  a  detail  of  about  fifty 
men  and  placed  them  in  charge  of  Captain  Sharp  and  order 
ed  him  to  go  down  and  arrest  both  and  bring  them  up  to 
headquarters.  The  second  day  after  the  scouts  started 
they  returned  by  steamboat  witli  both  men,  as  well  as 
several  other  prisoners.  After  the  boat  arrived  Captain 
Sharp  came  to  headquarters  and  suggested  the  release  of  one 
of  the  men  as  he  didn't  think  he  was  guilty.  I  ordered  the 
prisoners  brought  to  headquarters  at  once.  There  was  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Edington  who  resided  in  Osceola,  one 
of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the  county;  he  was  well  acquaint 
ed  with  one  of  the  men,  as  he  had  been  sheriff  of  the  coun- 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  223 

ty  in  which  he  resided  and  a  colonel  in  the  Confederate 
army.  He  asked  me  to  parole  him  to  the  limits  of  the 
city  and  he  would  go  on  his  bond  for  one  thousand  dollars 
until  said  charges  could  be  investigated.  In  a  few  days 
after  he  was  paroled  Mr.  Edington  came  into  the  office  and 
informed  me  that  after  his  arrest  and  while  on  the  boat 
coming  up  the  river  Cap.  Sharp  came  to  him  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  captain  of  the  steamboat  and  remarked.  "Well, 
colonel,  you  have  got  a  hard  man  holt  of  you  now;  if 
you  will  pay  me  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  I  can  use 
my  influence  with  Col.  Monks  and  have  you  released/' 
The  colonel  said  to  Captain  Sharp  that  he  didn't  have 
the  money  with  him.  The  captain  of  the  steamboat 
said  to  the  colonel,  ''I  have  the  money,  I  will  loan  it  to 
you."  The  colonel  paid  Captain  Sharp  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  Captain  Sharp  agreed  to  have  him 
released  and  let  him  go  back  on  the  boat.  Mr.  Edington 
said  he  had  watched  all  my  proceedings  since  I  took  com 
mand  of  the  post  and  had  become  saitisfied  that  my 
highest  aim  was  to  protect  every  person  in  his  person  and 
property. 

I  ordered  the  orderly  to  arrest  the  colonel  and  bring 
him  to  headquarters.  I  told  him  that  I  had  been  in 
formed  that  after  his  arrest  and  while  in  custody  of 
Captain  Sharp  on  the  steamboat  he  paid  Captain  Sharp 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and  Captain  Sharp  was  to 
release  him  and  let  him  return  home  on  the  boat.  He 
admitted  that  he  paid  the 'money  and  made  a  full  state 
ment  of  all  the  facts  that  caused  him  to  pay  the  money. 
I  notified  Captain  Sharp  to  appear  at  headquarters  at 
once.  Informed  him  of  what  I  had  just  learned,  that 
while  he  had  the  colonel  prisoner,  coming  up  on  the 
steamboat,  that  he,  the  prisoner,  paid  him  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  to  procure  his  release.  Captain  Sharp 


224  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

admitted  that  it  was  true;  I  asked  the  captain  if  he  had 
the  money.  He  said  he  had.  I  asked  the  colonel  if  he 
had  a  friend  that  he  could  pay  the  money  to ;  that  I  could 
not  pay  the  money  to  him,  that  he  might  bribe  another 
one  of  my  officers.  He  said  that  I  could  pa}T  the  money 
to  Mr.  Edington.  Captain  Sharp  paid  the  money  to  Mr. 
Edingtonby  the  order  of  the  colonel.  I  ordered  the  colonel 
to  the  guardhouse  for  bribing  my  officers.  I  ordered 
Captain  Sharp  to  report  at  headquarters  the  next  day 
at  ten  oclock.  The  Captain  promptly  appeared  at  the 
hour  set.  We  went  into  the  back  room  of  my  office 
alone.  The  captain  and  myself  took  seats.  I  said  to  the 
captain,  "I  am  very  sorry  that  this  thing  occurred;  that 
you  have  allowed  one  of  your  prisoners  to  bribe  you  and 
you  have  betrayed  that  confidence  imposed  in  you  by  the 
state.  It  become  my  painful  duty  to  place  you  under 
arrest  and  of  all  crimes  known  to  the  criminal  calender 
the  worst  is  that  one  of  treason.  We  claim  that 
we  are  hunting  violaters  of  the  law  and  if  we  become 
violaters  of  the  law  then  it  will  devolve  on  the  state  to 
place  a  new  set  of  men  in  the  service  so  that  all  violaters 
of  the  law  can  be  arrested  and  brought  to  justice.  Now 
I  have  been  informed  that  while  you  composed  a  part  of 
the  command  stationed  at  Cottonplant  under  General 
Upham  you  was  arrested  for  disorderly  conduct  and  you 
caused  your  company  to  mutinize.  Now  I  want  to  say 
to  you  that  I  am  going  to  put  you  under  arrest  and  dis 
arm  you  and  I  will  parole  you  to  the  limits  of  the  city 
and  your  first  lieutenant  will  be  placed  in  command  of 
the  company  and  if  you  cause  your  men  to  mutinize  I  will 
arrest  the  whole  company  and  send  them  to  Little 
Rock." 

I  ordered    the    whole    company  to     appear  at  head 
quarters  and  informed  them  of  what  I  had  done.      I  then 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  22.5 

sent  the  orderly  and  brought  out  the  colonel  and 
paroled  him  to  the  limits  of  the  city  under  one  thou 
sand  dollar  bond.  I  never  had  a  more  obedient  set  of 
soldiers  in  all  my  service  than  Ciptain  Sharp's  company 
and  they  were  as  true  and  as  brave  men  as  ever  lived. 
Captain  Sharp  said  he  was  sorry  for  what  he  had  done 
and  I  had  done  my  duty  and  in  about  one  week  I  return 
ed  his  arms  and  placed  him  in  command  of  his  com 
pany.  And  during  the  remainder  of  service  Captain 
Sharp  discharged  every  duty  with  honor  to  himself  and 
his  state.  While  I  was  in  command  of  the  post  I  made  a 
vigorous  campaign.  Arrested  or  drove  out  all  the  arm 
ed  Kuklux  and  had  the  civil  law  fully  put  in  force  and 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel  reorganized  their  churches 
and  business  of  all  kinds  was  resumed.  Intimidations  of 
the  people,  of  the  civil  officers,  and  of  the  county  by  the 
Kuklux  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  I  received  orders  from 
the  adjutant  general  at  Little  Rock  to  declare  the  civil 
law  enforced  in  Mississippi  county  and  to  report  with 
my  command  to  the  commander  of  the  post  at  Marion, 
Crittendon  county,  Arkansas,  for  further  orders.  My  com 
mand  was  conveyed  by  steamboat  to  Hopefield  and  from 
Hopefield  we  marched  to  Marion. 

And  in  obedience  to  said  orders  I  issued  the  fol 
lowing  order:  "To  all  whom  it  may  concern,  especially 
to  the  citizens  of  Mississippi  county,  Arkansas,  I  send 
greeting.  It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  say  to  the  peo 
ple  of  Mississippi  county  that  the  Kuklux  organization  is 
completely  broken  up  and  there  is  no  armed  opposition  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  civil  law.  Therefore,  by  the  pow 
er  in  me  vested  I  declare  the  civil  law  from  this  date  in  full 
force  and  effect  in  said  county.  And  I  invite  all  go  d 
citizens  to  aid  in  the  enforcement  of  the  civil  law. 

WM.  MONKS,  Commander  of  the  post. 


226  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

And  when  the  people  of  the  city  learned  that  my  com 
mand  had  been  ordered  to  leave  the  city  they  at  once 
presented  the  writer  with  a  new  suit  of  clothes.  And  on 
the  arrival  of  the  boat  and  while  we  were  loading  our 
Camp  equipage,  arms  and  amunition,  about  three  or  four 
hundred  persons  composed  of  men,  women,  and  children 
assembled  on  the  the  bank  of  the  river  to  bid  us  goodbye. 
And  as  the  boat  moved  out  they  waved  their  handker 
chiefs  and  hats  and  gave  three  cheers  for  the  soldier  boys 
and  their  commanders. 

On  our  arrival  at  Marion  we  turned  over  our  guns,  am 
unition  and  camp  equipage  and  were  ordered  by  the  ad 
jutant  general  to  proceed  to  Jackso-nport  for  further  or 
ders  and  on  our  arrival  at  Jacksonport  the  writer  was 
ordered  to  leave  his  command  at  Jacksonport  and  to  report 
in  person  to  the  governor  at  Little  Rock.  On  my  arrival 
at  Litttle  Rock  I  was  informed  by  the  adjutant  general 
that  the  governor  was  dangerously  sick  and  confined  to 
this  room.  The  legislature  of  the  state  being  in  session  I 
was  invited  by  both  houses  to  deliver  an  address  to  the 
legislature.  Both  bodies  met  in  the  lower  house.  The 
writer  was  introduced  by  the  speaker.  Spoke  as  follows: 

"Mr.  President  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State 
of  Arkansas,  it  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  have  the 
honor  of  addressing  this  august  body  of  men  assembled  in 
this  hall.  Men  who  have  been  elected  by  the  people  of 
the  whole  state.  Men  who  have  the  interest  of  the  people 
at  heart.  Men  who  have  the  confidence  of  the  people. 
Men  who  are  intelligent  and  know  what  kind  of  laws  the 
people  need.  Men  who  are  determined  to  do  your  whole 
duty;  men  who  have  the  courage,  patriotism  and  love  of 
country  at  heart,  who  have  stood  by  your  post  while  one 
of  the  most  secret  organizations,  known  as  KuUlux,  bound 
•by  one  of  the  most  desperate  oaths  to  overturn  your  state 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  227 

government  by  intimidation  and  murder  of  all  the  civil  of 
ficers  of  the  state  and  to  kill  and  murder  the  loyal  citizens 
of  your  state.  The  intention  of  said  organization  was  to 
overturn  the  legally  constituted  laws  of  the  state,  but 
through  the  urtiring  effort  of  your  governor  and  his  sub 
ordinate  officers  and  the  loyal  people  of  your  state  and 
the  valor  and  patriotism  of  your  soldiers,  this  organization 
has  been  completely  routed  and  broken  up  and  the  civil  law 
is  again  declared  to  be  enforced  in  your  state.  Now  may 
your  wisdom  as  legislators  guide  you  and  your  successors 
in  all  duties  that  you  may  be  called  upon  to  perform  in  the 
legislative  capacity.  And  may  you  always  have  the  in 
terest  of  the  whole  people  at  heart.  And  may  all  the 
laws  that  may  be  enacted  by  this  legislature  or  your  suc 
cessors  be  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  people.  And  mar 
patriotism  and  the  love  of  both  state  and  nation  grow  in  the 
hearts  of  your  people  and  may  they  become  so  united  that 
nothing  can  sever  that  cord  of  love  for  their  state  and 
nation.  May  God's  blessing  guide  and  direct  every  one 
of  your  public  acts,  and  go  with  you  to  your  homes  and 
families  and  now  that  your  state  is  once  more  at  peace  and 
the  civil  law  is  being  enforced,  and  your  people  are  se 
cure  both  in  person  and  property,  I  therefore  will  return 
to  Missouri  to  the  bosom  of  my  family.  I  bid  you  all 
good  bye." 

The  whole  house  rose  to  its  feet  and  gave  three  cheers 
and  pressed  forward  to  give  the  writer  a  good,  parting 
handshake. 

The  governor  continued  to  grow  worse.  The  doc 
tors  would  not  admit  any  person  to  his  sickroom.  The 
adjutant  general  informed  me  that  the  governor  wanted  to 
see  me  in  person.  That  I  had  come  to  the  rescue  of 
the  people  with  men  and  arms,  when  the  loyal  people 
were  completely  overpowered  and  saved  the  northern 


228  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

part  of  the  state  from  the  control  of  the  Kuklux.  He  said 
the  the  governor  was  well  pleased  with  my  services  while 
in  the  State ;  that  even  the  rebels  spoke  in  the  highest 
terms  in  regard  to  the  discipline  that  I  enforced  over 
my  men ;  that  I  had  protected  the  person  and  property  of 
both  Union  and  rebel,  and  that  I  had  given  general 
satisfaction  to  all  classes  of  persons  that  were  favorable  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  civil  law  and  that  it  was  the  de 
sire  of  the  governor  to  promote  me  to  a  brigadier -general  for 
the  valuable  services  that  I  had  rendered  in  the  state, 
and  place  me  in  command  of  the  northern  district.  I 
said  "You  can  tell  the  governor  when  he  gets  well  that  I 
was  very  sorry  to  find  him  sick,  that  it  would  have  been 
a  pleasure  to  me  to  have  met  him  in  person.  And  the 
offer  that  he  has  made  to  me  to  promote  me  to  briga 
dier-general  for  the  meritorious  services  that  I  have 
rendered  to  the  state  places  me  under  many  obligations  to 
his  honor  for  thn  the  high  esteem  and  confidence  he  im 
poses  in  me,  as  touching  my  military  service,  and  as  a 
private  citizen  while  in  this  state.  And  wrhile  I  thank 
kim  for  his  offer  to  promote  me  to  the  rank  of  brigadier  - 
general  and  place  me  in  command  of  the  northern  district 
of  Arkansas,  I  must  decline  the  offer  and  return  to  Mis 
souri  for  I  love  the  people  of  my  state,  I  love  my  home  and 
my  desire  is  to  become  a  private  citizen.  The  only  thing 
that  impelled  me  to  come  into  your  state  was  to  aid  the 
state  in  enforcing  the  civil  law  and  protect  your  people 
from  assassination  and  murder  and  to  do  all  in  my  power 
to  aid  in  bringing  violaters  of  law  to  justice.  This  be 
ing  accomplished  and  civil  law  again  being  enforced  in 
every  part  of  the  state,  my  services  as  a  soldier  and  an 
officer  not  being  needed  any  longer  I  will  ask  you 
again  to  give  my  respects  to  the  governor  and  will  ever 
hold  his  memory  sacred,  and  may  God's  blessing  rest 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  229 

upon  the  people  of  your  state  and  your  chief  executive. 
So  I  will  bid  you  good-bye." 

I  returned  to  Jacksonport  and  rejoined  my  com 
mand  and  marched  directly  to  West  Plains.  There  my 
men  bid  each  other  goodbye  and  returned  to  their 
homes,  hoping  that  this  thing  of  war  would  be  over 
forever. 

On  my  arrival  home  I  found,  to  my  great  surprise,  a 
new  political  organization,  composed  of  men  who  styled 
themselves  Liberal  Republicans,  and  democrats  and  rebels; 
and  through  some  of  the  most  vicious  and  unprincipled 
rebels,  they  charged  me  with  being  a  thief  and  a  mur 
derer.  My  friends  came  to  me  and  requested  that  I  at 
once  institute  suits  of  slander  against  them,  for  they 
knew  that  it  was  false  from  beginning  to  end.  During 
the  intervening  time  they  had  called  an  indignation 
meeting  and  publicly  denounced  me  as  a  thief  and  inur- 
d^rer.  I  instituted  a  civil  suit  for  slander  against  all 
persons  who  took  part  in  said  indignation  meeting.  I 
also  instituted  suit  against  one  other  man  on  the  same 
charge.  The  county  of  Howell  at  that  time,  especially 
the  judicial  circuit,  was  presided  over  by  a  judge,  who 
was  an  extreme  democrat.  The  defence  made  applica 
tion  to  the  judge  for  a  change  of  venue  from  this  judi 
cial  circuit;  he  ordered  the  change  sent  to  Laclede  county, 
to  the  city  of  Lebanon,  before  Judge  Fian.  The  defence 
then  set  about  taking  depositions.  I  was  notified  to  meet 
them  in  Sharp  county  at  Evening  Shade  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  depositions.  When  we  met  at  Evening  Shade 
they  commenced  hunting  around  for  witnesses  to  prove 
their  charges,  but  failed  to  find  a  single  one.  But  every 
person  they  interviewed  touching  the  charges  declared 
that  they  were  false  and  that  Colonel  Monks  enforced 
discipline  over  his  men  while  he  was  in  their  state  and 


230  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

protected  every  one  in  person  and  property  and  that 
all  classes  of  persons  regarded  him  as  being  perfectly 
honest  and  a  goodmilitary  officer;  they  failed  to  procure  a 
single  witness  at  that  place.  I  next  was  notified  to  meet 
them  in  Oregon  count}',  at  the  court  house,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  taking  depositions.  I  accordingly  armed  myself 
with  two  good  navy  revolvers  and  went  to  Alton,  the 
county  seat  of  Oregon  county;  the  circuit  court  being  in 
session  at  that  time,  on  my  arrival  I  put  up  at  a  boarding 
house  conducted  by  Alfred  Harris,  who  still  resides  in  that 
county.  Circuit  court  being  in  session  I  went  into  the 
court  room  and  remained  until  recess.  Just  after  recess 
the  judge  came  and  told  me  that  he  had  been  informed 
that  a  mob  then  had  the  court-house  surrounded  and  was 
going  to  mob  me  whenever  I  entered  the  square,  and  to 
remain  in  the  court  room  for  a  few  minutes  and  he  would 
try  and  have  the  mob  removed  ;  in  eight  or  ten  minutes 
the  deputy  sheriff  returned  and  informed  me  that  the  mob 
had  been  removed,  and  that  I  could  go  down  and  go  to 
my  hotel.  As  I  passed  down  I  saw  about  fifty  or  sixty  men 
in  front  of  the  saloons,  swearing  at  the  top  of  their  voices 
"He  fought  us  during  the  civil  war  and  he  shall  not  be 
allowed  to  come  into  this  count}'  and  live."  After  reach 
ing  the  hotel,  Mr.  Harris  with  several  other  friends  urged 
me  not  to  meet  the  parties,  who  were  going  to  take  depo 
sitions  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  court  house,  for  they 
believed  the  mob  would  kill  me.  I  laughed  and  told 
them  that  I  reckoned  not  and  that  I  thought  the  war  was 
over  and  that  they  couldn't  play  that  game  on  me,  to  noti 
fy  me  to  meet  them  to  take  the  depositions  and  then  pre 
pare  a  mob  to  prevent  me  from  appearing,  so  that  they 
would  be  able  to  manufacture  evidence  in  the  case.  And 
I  would  either  be  present  at  one  o'clock,  the  time  I  was 
notified  to  meet  them,  or  I  would  die  in  the  attempt.  So 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  231 

I  appeared  promptly  atone  o'clock,  the  time  set,  but  not 
one  of  the  opposite  party,  either  attorney  or  client  put  in 
an  appearance.  I  remained  there  until  four  o'clock  and 
still  no  appearance  had  been  entered  by  the  defendants  or 
their  attorneys,  and  I  again  returned  to  my  hotel,  after 
circuit  court  had  adjourned  for  the  day. 

While  we  were  seated  at  the  table  eating  si  ppe  %  a 
man  rapped  at  the  hotel  door  and  called  to  Mr.  Harris,  the 
landlord,  that  he  wanted  to  see  him  privately  for  a  few 
moments.  Mr.  Harris  soon  returned  and  remarked  to  the 
writer  that  he  had  been  ordered  to  deliver  a  message;  that 
he  had  just  been  informed  that  a  mob  of  about  one  hun 
dred  men  then  had  the  hotel  surrounded  and  the}' 
would  give  me  ten  minutes  to  get  out  of  town  or  I  would 
be  shot  to  death.  I  replied  to  Mr.  Harris,  ''in  the  first 
place,  I  am  too  old  to  run;  and  in  the  second  place,  if  these 
bushwhackers  have  not  shed  enough  innocent  blood,  they 
will  have  the  best  opportunity  now  that  they  will  ever  get;. 
tell  them  that  I  don't  intend  to  leave  or  run."  Mr.  Harris- 
said  that  he  would  deliver  the  message  to  the  bearer. 

There  were  two  Confederates  seated  at  the  table, 
eating.  They  said,  "What  does  this  mean?  We  thought 
the  war  was  over."  They  got  up  and  left  the  table.  Af 
ter  the  writer  finished  his  supper,  he  retired  to  the  sitting 
room,  which  adjoined  Mr.  Harris'  library.  Mr.  Harris 
immediately  came  in  and  offered  to  barricade  the  doors 
and  windows.  I  objected.  He  then  remarked  that  the 
mob  would  shoot  in  through  the  windows,  that  he  would 
blind  the  windows.  I  consented  to  his  putting  blinds  on 
the  windows,  but  that  the  doors  shouldn't  be  interfered 
with.  There  was  but  one  door  entering  the  sitting  r  >oni 
except  the  door  that  came  through  the  library.  I  took 
my  seat  on  a  bench  where  I  could  reach  the  knob  of  the 
door  with  ni3r  left  hand  and  hold  my  revolver  in  my  right 


232  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

hand.  Mr.  Harris  propose!  to  blow  out  the  lights,  to 
which  I  objected.  I  told  him  that  if  the  mob  came  I 
wanted  the  light  so  that  I  could  see  how  to  shoot.  He 
then  took  his  seat  and  entered  into  conversation.  In  a 
few  moments  some  person  took  hold  of  the  knob  of  the 
door.  I  rose  to  my  feet  with  my  revolver  cocked,  in  my 
right  hand  and  let  the  door  open  just  so  that  one  man  could 
enter  at  a  time.  Mr.  Maxey,  of  Howell  county,  an  attor 
ney -at -law,  had  come  in  to  get  a  book  out  of  the  li 
brary,  not  knowing  that  there  was  any  trouble  up.  As 
he  came  inside  of  the  room  I  had  my  pistol  cocked  and 
presented  on  his  left  breast.  When  I  recognized  Mr. 
Maxey  I  lowered  my  pistol  and  remarked  to  him,  "Your 
face  has  saved  your  life."  Mr.  Maxey  became  very  much 
excited,  walked  across  the  floor  once  or  twice,  and  in 
quired  what  was  up.  I  informed  him  of  the  notice  of  the 
mob  and  the  time  that  I  had  been  given  to  leave  the 
hotel  and  that  the  time  had  then  expired,  and  that  when 
I  heard  him  take  hold  of  the  door,  I  supposed  the  mob 
was  coming.  Mr.  Maxey  remarked  that  "This  thing 
will  never  do,  I'm  going  to  see  if  it  can't  be  stopped." 
I  requested  him  to  say  to  every  person  that  might  be  dis- 
P'^sed  to  come  into  the  house  to  make  themselves  known 
outside  of  the  door  before  entering  the  house. 

In  a  short  time  the  circuit  judge  and  deputy  sheriff, 
with  two  or  three  others,  came  to  the  door  and  made  them 
selves  known  and  came  in.  The  circuit  judge  said: 
"Colonel,  I  have  been  informed  that  you  have  been  noti 
fied  by  a  mob  to  leave  the  town  in  ten  minutes  or  you 
would  be  shot  to  death,  and  I  have  come  to  see  if  you 
wanted  a  guard."  I  replied  that  I  didn't.  "If  these  God 
damn  bushwhackers  haven't  shed  enough  innocent  blood 
and  are  still  bloodthirsty,  they  will  never  have  a  better 
opportunity;  so  just  let  them  come."  The  judge  and 


234  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

sheriff  and  those  who  came  with  them  left  the  room.  I  re 
mained  in  the  room  until  the  usual  bedtime.  I  heard  them 
cursing  outside  and  declare  that  the)r  would  take  me  out 
before  daylight.  I  thought  of  my  horse  that  was  in  the 
stable,  a  few  yards  away.  I  remarked  to  Mr.  Harris  that  I 
was  going  to  the  stable  to  look  at  my  horse.  He  begged 
me  not  to  go  out,  that  I  would  be  shot  down.  I  said  to 
him  that  it  was  a  game  that  two  or  more  could  work  at. 

On  reaching  the  stable,  I  heard  the  men  quarreling  on 
the  public  square.  A  man  by  the  nani2  of  Jones,  who  had 
been  a  Confederate  and  then  was  prosecuting  attorney  of 
the  county,  and  another  citizen,  who  appeared  to  be  lead 
ing  the  mob,  were  having  an  altercation.  Jones  remarked 
to  the  other  man  that  he  had  never  met  Col.  Monks 
until  to-day  an  A  that  he  appeared  t>  be  a  perfect 
gentleman,  that  the  war  was  over,  and  that  he  had  the 
same  right  to  come  here  and  transact  business  as  any  other 
man;  to  which  the  other  declared,  with  an  oath,  that  a  man 
who  had  fought  them  through  the  war  shouldn't  come 
there,  and  the}'  intended  to  take  him  out  and  shoot*  him 
before  daylight;  and  further  charged  that  Jones  was  not  a 
good  Confederate.  Jones  then  gave  him  the  lie.  The 
two  appeared  to  be  about  to  come  together,  but  others  in 
terfered  to  keep  them  separated.  I  returned  to  the  ho'tl 
and  said  to  Mr.  Harris  that  the  seat  of  war  had  moved  up 
onto  the  square. 

Mr.  Maxey  informed  me  that  just  outside  of  the  door 
of  the  hotel  he  met  the  mob,  and  they  declared  that  they 
intended  to  take  Monks  out  and  shoot  him  Ir  fore  daylight. 
He  replied  to  them  that  they  might  do  it,  but  they  had  bet 
ter  take  their  stretchers  along,  for  sonr*  other  persons  would 
have- to  bring  some  of  them  out;  that  he  had  just  been  in 
the  house  and  in  a  moment  he  was  confronted  by  Col. 
Monks  with  a  revolver  presented  at  his  left  breast  and  the 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  235 

very  devil  was  in  his  eye,  and  if  they  entered  the  room  he 
would  shoot  as  long  as  he  could  move  a  finger. 

When  bedtime  came,  I  was  placed  in  an  upper  room 
and  locked  the  door,  expecting  that  if  they  located  my  room 
they  would  shoot  through  the  windows.  I  could  still  hear 
them  cursing  and  threatening  to  take  me  out  until  late  in 
the  night.  The  next  morning  everything  was  quiet.  I 
went  to  the  stable  and  took  my  horse  down  to  the  spring  to 
water;  a  number  of  men  were  standing  at  the  side  of  the 
street,  and  one  said:  "Where  do  you  suppose  the  captain 
and  his  men  are?"  I  remarked  to  them  that  they  were 
just  like  a  pack  of  wolves ;  they  were  in  the  brush  this 
morning,  waiting  for  night  to  again  renew  their  howling. 
There  was  one,  Capt.  Wagoner,  who  resided  in  t  >\vn,  who 
remarked  to  me  the  next  morning  that  lie  never  was  ns 
proud  of  anything  in  his  life;  that  if  they  coulJ  have  scared 
me  and  I  had  attempted  to  leave  town  in  the  night,  they 
intended  to  murder  me. 

After  circuit  court  convened,  I  went  into  court,  and  at 
noon  of  that  day  the  court  adjourned.  And  I,  with  a  num 
ber  of  others,  went  to  Thomasville,  put  up  at  the  hotel,  had 
my  horse  fed  and  took  supper.  While  on  the  road,  the 
man  that  led  the  mob  passed  me  on  his  way  to  Thomas 
ville,  where  he  resided.  The  defendants  and  their  att^r- 
neys  failed  to  produce  a  single  witness  to  testify  in  the 
case.  I  returned  home  to  West  Plains. 

I  was  notified  to  meet  them  at  other  places  in  the  coun 
try,  to  take  depositions  in  said  cause.  The  political  feel 
ing  was  strong  then  between  the  parties,  and  the)-  sent  the 
suits  to  a  county  over  a  hundred  miles  distant  from  where 
the  suits  were  instituted:  this  county,  at  that  time,  was 
completely  controlled  by  the  democratic  party. 

When  the  suits  came  up  to  be  tried,  over  half  of  the 
jury  had  been  late  rebels,  yet  they  failed  to  introduce  a 


236  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

single  witness  to  support  their  charges,  and  I  recovered  a 
verdict  in  each  case.  Judge  Fian,  who  tried  the  case,  said 
that  he  was  never  so  surprised  in  his  life;  that  he  opened 
up  the  floodgates  and  let  them  bring  in  all  their  evidence 
from  the  beginning  of  the  war  up  to  the  time  of  the  trial. 
Judge  Fian  had  been  a  colonel  on  the  Federal  side  in  the 
Civil  war. 

On  the  account  of  failure  to  get  any  proof  the  juries 
were  compelled  to  give  a  verdict  fn  both  cases  for  Col. 
Monks,  although  it  was  against  the  will  and  feeling  of 
them.  It  cost  the  defendants  between  five  and  seven 
hundred  dollars.  After  the  trials,  all  parties  returned  to 
Howell  county.  The  defendants,  after  they  had  procured 
a  change  of  venue  to  Laclede  county,  boasted  openly  before 
trials,  that  they  were  going  to  beat  both  cases,  that  they 
had  got  them  into  a  democratic  county.  The  defendants 
being  beaten  at  all  points,  returned,  but  not  being  satis 
fied,  and  being  backed  by  the  late  bushwhackers  and 
Kuklux  (the  most  desperate  set  of  men  that  ever  lived,) 
at  the  next  term  of  the  Howell  county  circuit  court  they 
procured  the  appointment  of  a  special  prosecutiong  at 
torney,  who  had  been  a  late  rebel  and  selected  a  jury  of 
men  composed  of  liberal  Republicans  and  so-called 
democrats,  with  the  express  purpose  of  indicting  the 
writer  for  killing  one  of  the  most  desperate  bushwhackers 
and  rebel  desperadoes  that  ever  was  in  South  Missouri.  The 
men  who  composed  the  jury  knew  well  that  he  was  killed 
in  an  open  hand  to  hand  fight  during  the  Civil  war.  The 
writer  soon  found  out  that  they  were  trying  to  get  a  bill 
of  indictment  against  the  writer,  so  the  writer  watched  the 
proceedings  of  the  grand  jury.  On  Saturday  the  grand 
jury  came  into  court  and  turned  in  their  indictments  and 
reported  to  the  court  that  they  had  no  more  business. 
The  court  discharged  them. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  237 

At  the  same  moment  the  writer  asked  the  court  if 
there  was  any  bill  of  indictment  preferred  against  him. 
He  ran  over  the  indictments  and  informed  the  writer  that 
there  was  an  indictment  against  him,  for  murder  in  the 
first  degree.  The  Judge  said  that  he  was  sorry  that  I 
had  called  it  out  for  he  wanted  to  go  home  until  Monday. 
I  told  him  "Just  adjourn  your  court  and  go  home.  The 
sheriff  is  here."  I  remarked  to  the  jury  that  they  needn't 
have  put  the  county  to  any  cost  hunting  witnesses;  if  they 
had  come  to  me,  I  could  have  told  them  that  I  killed  him 
and  the  only  thing  that  I  was  sorry  for,  was  that  I 
hadn't  killed  a  lot  more  of  the  bushwhackers.  I  would 
love  to  ask  this  jury  if  they  have  indicted  any  of  the 
bushwhackers  and  rebels  who  have  hung  and  murdered 
Union  men  all  over  Howell  county,  irrespective  of  age; 
the  most  of  those  men  were  killed  at  their  homes  or  taken 
from  their  homes  and  afterwards  killed.  A  part  of  the 
men  who  did  these  things  are  still  living  in  Howell  county 
and  that  jury  knows  it. 

The  sheriff  and  the  judge  stepped  out  of  the  court 
house  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned,  and  the  judge  re 
marked  "I  will  turn  you  over  to  the  sheriff."  He  then  or- 
tclered  the  sheriff  to  adjourn  the  court  until  the  next  Mon 
day.  The  sheriff  remarked  to  the  writer  "You  can  go 
where  you  please  and  report  to  the  court  at  ten  o'clock 
next  Monday."  The  writer  remarked,  in  the  presence  of 
the  judge  and  sheriff,  "I  did  not  Knew  that  a  man  indict 
ed  for  murder  in  the  fir>t  degree  could  be  paroled." 
The  sheriff  adjourned  the  court  and  he  and  the  judge  left 
the  court  house  together.  When  I  met  a  number  of  my 
friends  (as  there  was  a  political  meeting  going  on  that 
day)  and  informed  them  that  I  had  been  indicted  and 
paroled  until  next  Monday,  I  couldn't  make  some  of  them 
believe  it. 


CAPT.  WILL  H    D.  GREEN,  GRANDSON.  LIhUT.  MARK  SPRINGER,  CO.  K. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  239 

I  appeared  at  ten  o'clock  the  next  Monday  morning 
and  before  court  was  convened,  Edward  Seay,  an  attorney  - 
at-law,  one  among  the  ablest  lawyeis  at  the  bar,  a  strong 
rebel  sympathizer,  came  to  the  writer  and  said,  "It  is  a 
shame  that  you  have  been  indicted.  It  has  been  done  for 
political  r urpose  and  I  want  your  consent  to  file  a  motion 
to  quash  the  indictment."  I  remarked  to  him  that  I 
would  rather  have  it  tried  before  a  jury  of  my  country  so 
that  I  could  show  the  intention  and  aims  of  those  who 
caused  said  indictments  to  be  procured.  He  still  plead 
with  me  to  let  him  file  a  motion  to  quash  it,  that  it  would 
not  cost  me  one  cent.  I  at  last  told  him  to  use  his  own 
pleasure  in  regard  to  it,  so  he  filed  a  motion  to  quash  it, 
and  submitted  the  motion  to  the  court  without  any  argu 
ment,  and  the  court  sustained  the  motion  and  quashed  the 
indictment.  So  ended  that  charge  of  murder  against  the 
writer.  They  saw  they  were  beaten  again  and  their 
schemes  wrere  again  exposed  to  the  whole  people  and  they 
fell  back  sullen  and  become  desperate. 

In  a  short  time  the  writer  was  informed  that  they  were 
threatening  to  assassinate  him  and  to  be  continually  on  the 
watch.  I  put  men  on  their  trails.  Several  attempts  were 
made  to  deco}^  the  writer  into  their  nets,  but  they  failed. 
They  then  employed  one  Dr.  Beldon,  who  made  an  attempt 
to  sh  )ot  the  author  in  his  own  dooryard,  but  the  writer  saw 
him  in  time  to  prevent  his  shooting,  and  he  left  the  county 
at  once.  Shortly  after,  the  author  was  again  warned  to  be 
on  the  watch,  that  they  were  still  making  threats. 

There  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  W.  H.  McCowen, 
who  had  been  a  Confederate  colonel,  living  in  West  Plains. 
He  was  known  to  be  a  very  dangerous  man  when  drinking 
and  was  an  uncompromising  rebel.  The  writer  then  resided 
in  the  house  south  of  the  town  spring,  known  as  the  West 
Plains  House,  and  the  street  ran  within  a  few  feet  of  the 


240  HISTORY    OK    SOUTH HRN    MISSOURI 

gate,  which  opened  in'o  a  hall  between  the  house  and 
kitchen.  There  was  a  saloon  about  forty  yards  west  of  the 
house,  on  the  same  street,  run  by  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Jackson,  another  uncompromising  rebel.  This  saloon  ap 
peared  to  be  headquarters  for  these  would-be  assassins. 
I  had  just  brought  my  horse  from  the  stable  and  tied  him 
by  the  gate,  with  the  intention  of  going  to  my  farm.  Mrs. 
Lasater,  who  still  resides  in  West  Plains,  bad  just  come 
over  to  my  house  and  was  there  at  the  time  of  the  shoot 
ing.  Mrs.  McCowen,  the  wife  of  Col.  McCowen,  came  to 
to  my  house  that  morning,  came  in  the  back  way,  and  ap 
peared  to  be  very  much  excited,  and  informed  me  that  cer 
tain  men  were  going  to  assassinate  me  that  morning;  that 
to  her  knowledge  they  had  been  plotting  for  three  days. 
They  had  been  using  every  inducement,  making  her  hus 
band  drunk  and  trying  to  work  him  into  it.  She  had  shut 
him  up  and  locked  the  doors  to  keep  them  away  from  IK  r' 
husband,  but  they  would  raise  the  windows  and  come  in. 
She  had  done  all  she  could  to  keep  her  husband  out  of  it, 
and  she  thought  it  was  her  duty  to  come  and  let  me  know 
that  they  had  agreed  to  shoot  me  that  morning.  I  thanked 
her  I'-.-r  the  information  and  said  to  her  that  I  would  ever  be 
grateful  to  her.  I  further  said  to  her  that  I  did  not  want 
to  hurt  the  colonel  or  any  other  person,  but  they  must  not 
come  to  my  house  on  that  kind  of  business  if  they  didn't 
want  to  get  hurt.  In  a  few  moments  she  returned  home, 
going  around  the  back  \vay. 

I  at  once  sent  to  S.  P.  Woodworth,  a  merchant  who 
resided  in  West  Plains  and  a  strong  Union  man,  for  his 
double-barrelled  shotgun.  I  had  two  good  navy  pistols. 
He  sent  me  his  gun  and  said  it  was  well  loaded  with  buck 
shot  and  was  sure  to  fire.  I  advised  the  women,  if  they 
came,  to  keep  cool  and  go  into  the  back  room  so  they 
would  be  out  of  danger.  I  raised  the  two  front  windows  of 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS 


241 


the  sitting-room  about  two  or  three  inches,  so  I  could 
shoot  under  them,  keeping  a  close  watch  on  the  saloon. 
In  about  thirty  minutes  after  Mrs.  McCowen  left, I  saw  two 
of  the  men  leave  the  saloon  and  come  in  the  direction  of  my 
house.  They  came  to  the  gate,  opened  it  and  stepped  onto 
the  porch.  My  wife  went  to  the  door  and  begged  them  to 
leave.  One  of  the  men  said  that  he  wanted  to  see  the 
colonel.  He  was  armed  with  two  first-class  pistols,  one  of 
the  pistols  belonging  to  Col.  McCowen.  I  cocked  both 
barrels  of  my  shotgun  and  stepped  out  on  the  porch  with 
rny  gun  presented  and  ordered  him  to  turn  around  and 
leave  my  premises  in  one  minute.  Just  at  that  moment 
my  youngest  daughter,  now  the  wife  of  Mr.  Green,  sprang 
forward  and  caught  my  gun.  I  said  to  her;  ''For  God's 
sake  keep  away  from  me."  But  she  stood  by  my  side. 
During  this  time  he  had  passed  outside  of  .the  gate  and  had 
gotten  behind  a  tree;  had  his  pistol  cocked  and  presented 
at  me  and  in  a  moment  I  had  him  covered  with  my  shotgun. 
He  would  attempt  to  get  sight  on  me  and  would  dodge  his 
head  back  behind  the  tree.  Not  knowing  where  the  other 
man  was,  I  watched  his  head  and  when  he  attempted  to  take 
sight  I  fired  at  his  head ;  at  the  crack  of  the  gun  he  fell.  Then 
six  or  seven  men  commenced  jumping  out  at  the  door  of 
the  saloon.  The  first  thing  I  thought  of  was,  "They  will 
pretend  to  arrest  me  and  give  the  mob  a  chance  to  shoot 
me  after  I  am  disarmed."  I  sprang  on  my  horse  and  rode 
east  and  in  a  few  moments  five  or  six  men  came  to  my 
door  and  asked  my  wife  who  shot  first.  She  ordered  them  to 
leave  the  house.  They  soon  found  that  one  of  the  would-be 
assassins  was  shot.  On  an  examination  it  was  found  that 
one  of  the  shot  had  struck  him  in  the  right  side  of  the 
forehead,  the  right  side  of  the  brim  of  his  hat  was  torn 
into  fragments  and  the  tree  had  caught  a  part  of  the 
load.  The  tree  is  still  standing  in  the  yard.  Immediate- 


242  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI 

ly  afterward  I  sent  them  word  that  they  had  again  opend 
the  ball  and  I  was  ready  to  fight  it  out.  I  never  saw  men 
begin  to  plead  for  peace  as  hard  in  my  life.  The  sheriff 
and  others  would  come  to  me  and  say:  "Colonel,  why 
didn't  you  shoot  some  of  those  fellows  long  ago?  That  is 
just  what  they  needed."  I  asked  them  why  they  hadn't 
arrested  some  of  the  assassins  long  ago. 

When  the  Union  men  learned  that  an  attempt  had 
been  made  by  these  would-be  assassins  to  assassinate  me 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  headed  by  such  men 
as  J.  F.  Reiley,  Esau  Fox,  Andrew  V.  Tabor,  David  B. 
Nicholass,  John  B.  Nicholass,  Josiah  Carico,  Chas.  Long, 
J.  Youngblood,  and  Geo.  Youngblood  rode  into  town 
well  armed  and  publicly  notified  these  assassins  and  those 
who  were  aiding  and  abetting  them,  that  if  another  attempt 
was  made  to  assassinate  Colonel  Monks,  or  if  they  did 
assassinate  him  it  would  take  ten  of  their  leaders  to  pay 
the  debt  and  they  knew  just  who  they  were.  On  an 
investigation,  it  was  proven  that  on  the  night  before  they 
attempted  the  assassination  about  ten  or  twelve  of  these 
would-be  assassins  met  together  in  the  town  of  West 
Plains,  and  one  of  their  leaders  set  out  among  other  causes 
why  Colonel  Monks  would  have  to  be  killed ;  that  they  had 
tried  to  scare  him  away  from  the  country  but  found  they 
couldn't  scare  him  and  the  only  way  to  keep  the  repub 
lican  party  from  going  into  power  again  in  this  county  was 
to  kill  Colonel  Monks.  Some  of  the  men  that  were  pres 
ent  were  hired  to  do  the  shooting  next  morning  and  paid 
the  money.  They  drank  a  health  to  each  other  on  the 
death  of  Colonel  Monks  next  morning.  The  man  who 
advised  and  instructed  them  and  paid  them  a  part  of  the 
money  is  still  living  in  Howell  county.  This  failure 
in  their  attempt  to  assassinate  me  and  the  action  taken  by 
the  loyal  men  appeared  to  put  a  quietus  on  their  idea  of 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  243 

assassination ;  if  they  ever  made  any  further  effort  the 
writer  never  learned  about  it.  They  had  been  defeated  in 
every  attempt  made  either  to  slander  or  murder  me. 

I  want  to  say  here  that  I  shall  ever  hold  sacred  the 
memory  of  Mrs.  McCowen,  for  I  owe  to  her  the  peser- 
vation  of  my  life,  and  may  God's  blessing  ever  follow  her 
and  rest  upon  her. 

The  bushwhackers  and  the  Ku-klux  element  were  not 
yet  satisfied  and  had  but  one  way  to  vent  their  spleen 
against  me.  That  was  to  get  right  down  to  hard  lying. 
Having  failed  to  prove  a  single  one  of  their  charges  against 
me  in  the  courts  they  were  bent  on  injuring  me  and 
damaging  my  character.  With  no  regard  for  the  truth 
they  would  go  around  secretly  and  tell  strangers  who 
knew  nothing  about  me  that  I  was  a  murderer 
and  a  thief.  The  better  element  among  those  who  had 
been  Confederates  declared  openly  that  these  statements 
were  false  from  beginning  to  end.  Many  of  them  have  said 
that  I  was  an  honest  man,  and  that  if  any  one  wished  to 
employ  an  honest  lawyer  Monks  was  the  man  to  go  to, 
for  no  one  could  buy  him. 

Sometimes  I  would  be  informed  that  a  late  Confeder 
ate  would  say:  "I  believe  Col.  Monks  was  a  good  man 
and  an  honest  one.  But  I  dislike  him  because  he  fought 
us  so  hard  during  the  war."  I  would  reply:  "Tell  him 
that  I  couldn't  please  them  in  any  way  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war;  I  didn't  want  to  take  up 
arms.  I  was  an  unconditional  Union  man,  and  they, 
the  rebels,  came  to  my  home  and  arrested  me,  took 
me  into  their  command  and  swore  that  I  should  fight;  that 
they  would  make  me  fight  and  attempted  to  force  me  into 
the  Confederate  lines,  and  when  I  found  that  nothing 
else  would  do  them  but  to  fight,  and  I  went  to  fighting, 
then  they  turn  about  and  curse  me  for  fighting." 


HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    MISSOURI  244 

Again  I  would  be  informed  that  some  of  those  per 
sons,  who  had  no  regard  for  the  truth,  would  secretly 
charge  me  with  being  a  murderer.  In  reply  I  would  in 
form  them  that  every  part  of  the  country  where  I  had  per 
formed  military  service  was  now  in  the  control  of  the 
Democratic  party  and  there  was  no  limitation  to  the  crime 
of  murder. 


AND    NORTHERN    ARKANSAS  245 


Henry  Dixon  Green. 

Henry  Dixon  Green  was  born  in  Henderson  county 
Ky.,  in  the  year  1851.  His  father,  H.  D.  Green,  was  a 
colonel  in  the  Confederate  army,  and  died  while  in  the 
service.  In  1876,  the  younger  Green  left  his  native  state, 
taking  Horace  Greeley's  advice,  and  went  west  to  grow 
up  with  the  country.  He  located  at  West  Plains,  Mo., 
and  soon  began  reading  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  A.  H. 
Livingston.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  formed  a 
co-partnership  with  Mr.  Livingston  in  the  practice  of  law, 
which  continued  for  several  years.  Afterwards  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Judge  B.  F.  Olden.  This  firm  was  for 
years  the  local  legal  representative  for  the  Kansas  City,  Fort 
Scott  and  Memphis  Railroad  Company,  now  part  of  the 
Frisco  System.  Mr.  Green  acted  as  claim  agent  for  this 
railroad,  and  afterwards  had  charge  of  the  claim  depart 
ment  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company  for  the 
territory  of  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Colorado  and  Indian  Ter 
ritory,  but  resigned  to  resume  the  general  practice  of  law 
at  West  Plains,  Mo.  He  has  served  as  Probate  Judge  of 
Howell  county. 

Mr.  Green  was  married  in  1878  at  West  Plains  to  Miss 
Mary  M.  Monks,  daughter  of  Col.  Wm.  Monks.  Mrs. 
Green  is  a  strong  republican  while  Mr.  Green  is  a  strong 
supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  democratic  party ;  but 
their  home  life  is  perfect^  peaceful  and  happy.  Five 
children  have  brightened  this  home,  a  daughter,  now 
Mrs.  Arch  Bugg,  and  four  sons,  Will  H.  D.,  Frank,  Rus- 


RUSSELL  GREEN  AND  DIXON  GREEN. 


AND  NORTHERN  ARKANSAS  247 

sell  and  Dixon.  The  children  all  take  their  politics  from 
their  mother.  The  oldest  son,  Will,  has  been  admitted  to 
the  Howell  county  bar  and  is  now  practicing  law  with  his 
father.  He  is  also  Captain  of  Company  K,  the  local  mili 
tary  company  of  West  Plains.  The  second  and  third  sons 
are  also  members  of  the  company.  Frank  works  and 
studies  at  present  in  his  father's  law  office,  and  the  other 
boys  are  in  school. 


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